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and susceptible to legal wrangling, might
achieve the best outcome for shareholders.
“Building a global entity based on three
automakers [including Mitsubishi] is a dif-
ficult thing to do because the size of the entire
enterprise has become too unwieldy,” he said.
“The world changes around you, all the chaos
of trade, CO 2 rules, and politics means you
have to be flexible—it’s not so easy at the alli-
ance’s current size.
“Much better are partnerships between
automakers based on specific projects—a
transmission or a vehicle architecture—rather
than a relationship based on mutual owner-
ship of shares,” he continues. “Once you have a
marriage, it’s very hard to get divorced.”
How, precisely, the tension between the
alliance partners and the state actions of their
home countries played a role in the downfall
of Carlos Ghosn remains to be spelled out.
What’s sure is that he remains a singular CEO
who during his tenure accomplished what
many had believed to be impossible.for a future without him. One after another of potential succes-
sors left the alliance for various reasons. Nissan, in the meantime,
evolved into the stronger of the tw o partners in financial terms,
which inevitably led to grumbling in Japan that power, authority,
and prestige remained disproportionately on the side of Renault
and France.
As controlling shareholder of Nissan, Renault has the power to
appoint the Japanese automaker’s CEO. Ghosn may have hoped
that giving up the top executive post and appointing Hiroto
Saikawa to the job in April 2017 would defuse complaints from
some at Nissan that the Japanese brand lacked a voice in the
alliance. But it did little to dispel the perception in Yokohama
that important decisions were being made by Ghosn and Ghosn
appointees, with a bias toward France.
“The recurring rumor was that Ghosn had a secret plan to
merge the two companies as a way of stamping out the tension,”
said one former Nissan executive, who asked not to be named
for contractual reasons. “You would have to conclude that the
only option to maintaining the advantages of working together
would be to reframe the business relationship and the power
relationship between the two entities.”
A second former Nissan executive, who also declined to be
named, opined that dissolving the alliance, while complicated
CARLOS GHOSN
Ghosn faced
suspicion from
Nissan employees
that he favored
the French partners
in the alliance.MARK^ PETERSON—REDUX