A number of executive of Nissan Motors did not want the merger of the Japanese automaker with its French counterpart Renault and had therefore planned to take measures to kill the possibility of the deal by taking steps against the former Chairman of Nissan Carlos Ghosn who had been consequently jailed, claimed a report published in The Wall Street Journal quoting unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The report said that at a Jan. 31 meeting, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who was previously known to have been close with Ghosn, said he believed that evidence against Ghosn was collected by Nissan executive and had later on presented the evidence to Japanese authorities with the aim of removing Ghosn from power. It had been widely reported the Ghosn was attempting to get the two companies closer through a merger. The alliance between Nissan and Renault was created by Ghosn in 1999.
The world of the automobile industry has been rife with a number of theories of how a section of top executives of Nissan might have possibly played a crucial role in getting Ghosn arrested. The act of Ghosn of turning around Nissan from the jaws of a virtual bankruptcy and set the company on path for profits had not only made Ghosn amongst the most well known figures in the global auto industry but also a form of national hero in Japan. However people with knowledge of the intricacies of the auto world would know that the Japanese would have had serious reservations of such an important Japanese company like Nissan being owned by a foreign automaker such as Renault.
Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo on November 19 and a slew of charges of financial misconduct were slapped against him which included underreporting his salary for years to authorities and using Nissan money to compensate for his personal financial losses. He was recently released out on bail but with very strict conditions. Following his arrest Ghosn has been removed from the position and roles at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance of which he was the chairman. If found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in prison. All of the charges brought against him have been denied by Ghosn.
There were no comments available from Nissan on the report. The Journal report however carried a comment from the Nissan spokesman Nicholas Maxfield in which he said that the motives of company executives is not relevant, and that Nissan found "substantial evidence of blatantly unethical conduct. The sole cause of this chain of events is the misconduct led by Ghosn."
(Source:www.cnbc.com)
The report said that at a Jan. 31 meeting, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who was previously known to have been close with Ghosn, said he believed that evidence against Ghosn was collected by Nissan executive and had later on presented the evidence to Japanese authorities with the aim of removing Ghosn from power. It had been widely reported the Ghosn was attempting to get the two companies closer through a merger. The alliance between Nissan and Renault was created by Ghosn in 1999.
The world of the automobile industry has been rife with a number of theories of how a section of top executives of Nissan might have possibly played a crucial role in getting Ghosn arrested. The act of Ghosn of turning around Nissan from the jaws of a virtual bankruptcy and set the company on path for profits had not only made Ghosn amongst the most well known figures in the global auto industry but also a form of national hero in Japan. However people with knowledge of the intricacies of the auto world would know that the Japanese would have had serious reservations of such an important Japanese company like Nissan being owned by a foreign automaker such as Renault.
Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo on November 19 and a slew of charges of financial misconduct were slapped against him which included underreporting his salary for years to authorities and using Nissan money to compensate for his personal financial losses. He was recently released out on bail but with very strict conditions. Following his arrest Ghosn has been removed from the position and roles at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance of which he was the chairman. If found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in prison. All of the charges brought against him have been denied by Ghosn.
There were no comments available from Nissan on the report. The Journal report however carried a comment from the Nissan spokesman Nicholas Maxfield in which he said that the motives of company executives is not relevant, and that Nissan found "substantial evidence of blatantly unethical conduct. The sole cause of this chain of events is the misconduct led by Ghosn."
(Source:www.cnbc.com)
