the First victim, but also the first to obtain a form of redress ! The victim of a cheating on the emissions produced by its partner Mitsubishi, which provides engines, Nissan has quickly announced that it wants to fly to his rescue… on the condition that the magnitude of the scandal remains manageable. It must be because, as we annonçions yesterday, the automaker is japanese, which is closely related with Renault since 1999, puts a foot in Mitsubishi. Taking Thursday with a participation of 34 % in his countryman Mitsubishi Motors (MMC), its CEO Carlos Ghosn becomes the greatest great even if he puts the forms. He must take the head of the board of directors of MMC, but just an advisory role to the operational level.
“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 remains subject to the approval of the shareholders of MMC, which seems to be established in the absence of other credible solution, at the annual general meeting scheduled to be held in December. Similarly, the approximation requires the concurrence of three other directors of Nissan, which is a matter of mere formality.
Governance, but not operations
The current CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, will keep a time at least the position of executive general manager ” to lead the needed transformation of the company “, is grappling with a scandal of falsification of data. 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 insisted. “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).
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 three largest institutional shareholders of MMC – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ – have welcomed investment from Nissan and gave their support to the council. In the future, these three institutional shareholders, Mitsubishi will hold together, with Nissan, more than 51% of the share capital.
Mr. Masuko said expect 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.
An alliance of 10 million cars
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 “.
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 repeat the experience driving since then 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).
At the Tokyo stock Exchange, investors who remember the recovery achieved with the strength of Nissan by Carlos Ghosn applauded the news of the arrival of super CEO to the six brands désormaisà the head of MMC. The title has jumped in 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.
Ghosn in the first line
And they will not be disappointed, because, in order to devote himself fully to the new mission, the busy CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance,has appointed as soon as a Japanese as the co-chairman of Nissan in order to help in its mission of recovery of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC). It is his current number two, and director of the competitiveness, Hiroto Saikawa, who is being promoted to this position.
” I don’t think it is an indentation of my hand. What I’m saying is that I will need time to support MMC, ” said Mr. Ghosn at a press conference in Tokyo. “We make a big step forward, we need to adapt our organization, “so as” not to relax our attention on the performance of Nissan, ” said its CEO. The emergency, he said, is the rehabilitation of Mitsubishi Motors.
“It is the number one priority,” said Mr. Ghosn, who is hoping to repeat the experience conducted at the beginning of the years 2000 to save a Nissan to the brink of bankruptcy. The partnership is expected to generate annual synergies recurring meaningful to MMC, which give hope for an increase of 1 percentage point of operating profit margin for the year 2017, 2 percentage points for fiscal year 2018, and more than 2 percentage points for the year 2019.
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