The president of Nissan Carlos Ghosn with the boss of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, at the end of a press conference in Yokohama on may 12, 2016 ( AFP/Archives / Toshifumi KITAMURA )
“earlier in the day, Nissan has completed the acquisition of a share of Mitsubishi Motors for an amount of 237 billion yen (2.1 billion euros at current prices), and I have the honour to take the floor as the future chair of the board of directors,” said Mr. Ghosn, also CEO of the French Renault, during a press conference in Tokyo before a single logo, that of Mitsubishi Motors.
His appointment is still subject to the approval of the shareholders of MMC at the annual general meeting scheduled to be held in December, the same as that of the other three directors from Nissan.
The current CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, will retain the position of executive general manager “to lead the needed transformation of the company”, is grappling with a scandal of falsification of data.
The CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn (D) leaves 10 Downing Street in London after a meeting with the First minister Theresa May, on 14 October 2016 ( AFP / NIKLAS HALLE’N )
Nissan was made with the aid of his compatriot in may, less than a month after the first revelations of fraud.
Mr. Ghosn was keen to minimize his role by insisting on the distinction between the two functions. “The board of directors is responsible for the governance, not the operational direction of the company, it is there to ensure that rules and procedures exist and are respected” and to “ensure transparency”, as well as to “provide advice and support”, he stressed.
“Yes, I will be involved in three entities, but not in the same way,” added the boss, in a hurry to questions by journalists on his triple cap (Nissan-Renault-MMC).
- An alliance of 10 million cars -
Mr. Masuko has said, “delighted that this transaction has resulted,” the only way according to him that his company is “to survive in the face of rapid changes in the automotive industry”. Nissan thus becomes “the largest shareholder of Mitsubishi Motors,” in front of the groups of the galaxy Mitsubishi.
The president of Nissan Carlos Ghosn and the president of Mitsubishi Motors Osamu Masuko in Tokyo on December 14, 2010 ( JIJI PRESS/AFP/Archives / JIJI PRESS )
he said that He had expected synergies between the two groups of 25 billion yen (220 million euros) at a time “in the sharing of factories, platforms, R&D”.
“We’ll codévelopper technology for autonomous cars, for which there is a lot of competition,” detailed Mr. Masuko, while Nissan claims to have a lead in this area. He also spoke of a possible collaboration with Renault, well-placed in the diesel engines.
Conversely, MMC will contribute its expertise in plug-in hybrid vehicles and its strong presence in south-east Asia.
But above all, the builder, fearing that a heavy net loss for the current fiscal year, will have to strive to restore its image, already tainted by a previous case of concealment of defects in the 2000s.
“It is the number one priority,” said Mr. Ghosn. “We must prevent a recurrence of this type of problem,” said Mr. Masuko, brandishing a list of the “31 initiatives”.
The new alliance account as Avtovaz, the first Russian manufacturer ( AFP/Archives / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV )
it was recognised that this will not be an easy task, Carlos Ghosn saw it as an opportunity to extend the influence of the partnership with the French Renault in 1999, and to reiterate the experience driving there are more than ten years to straighten a Nissan to the brink of bankruptcy.
The new alliance, which also counts the Russian Avtovaz, will see its annual sales to around 10 million vehicles, not far from the leading trio world composed of the japanese Toyota, germany’s Volkswagen and us General Motors (GM).
the Tokyo stock Exchange, investors cheered the news of the arrival of Carlos Ghosn at the head of MMC, the title of which has soared over the past two sessions. Brokerage house Nomura has acknowledged, in a note cited by the agency Bloomberg, a “ruler with the iron fist”, capable of accelerating the transformation of the group, criticized for its corporate culture that is opaque and closed.
No comments:
Post a Comment