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Renault SA is preparing for a change of leadership. President and CEO Carlos Ghosn is said to be ready to resign more than two months after his arrest in Japan for alleged financial crimes that have shaken the world's largest alliance of automakers.
The French board of directors will meet on Thursday and is expected to appoint Jean-Dominique Senard, Michelin's chief, as president, and make permanent the role of interim general manager, Thierry Bolloré, said a familiar person on the record, who asked not to be identified when discussing private matters. Renault is currently negotiating with Mr Ghosn the conditions of his departure and he is ready to resign in good conditions, said a person informed of the talks.
The French state, Renault's main shareholder with 15% of the capital and two seats on the board of directors, supports Senard as president.
"Senard would be an excellent president of Renault," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday in an interview with BFM TV. The Mayor has not commented on Bollore.
Renault's board members and Ghosn's legal team are examining issues such as its non-compete agreement and pension benefits, people familiar with the issue said. A spokeswoman for the Ghosn family declined to comment. The Mayor said that Renault's management had not received a letter of resignation Tuesday evening, Europe time.
Ghosn, 64, has been detained in Japan since November 19 and accused of crimes that could drive him behind bars for decades. Auto Titan has been indicted for underestimating its revenue at Nissan Motor Co. by tens of millions of dollars and transferring the losses badociated with its personal business transactions to the automaker. His last bail application was rejected on Tuesday. Ghosn denied having acted badly.
Study the consequences
Already ousted as chairman of Nissan partners and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Ghosn has retained his position at Renault and as head of the alliance between the three car manufacturers. French society has invoked the presumption of innocence to keep it in office while appointing acting leaders. The board is currently studying the consequences of Mr. Ghosn's dismissal or his voluntary departure when he chose to resign, said one of the people. A spokesman for Renault did not respond to a call for comments on the estate.
The sudden and unexpected fall of Ghosn began the two-decade deal between Nissan and Renault, which he had dominated as president of both companies and the entity that governs their partnership. Nissan Mayor and CEO Hiroto Saikawa quickly downplayed the Nikkei newspaper's news this weekend that the French side was planning to regroup the two automakers.
The next step could be to appoint a leader of the alliance. A rise to the rank of CEO would technically enable Bollore to lead the partnership, based on the rules that currently govern it. These rules specify that the Renault CEO is also at the head of the Amsterdam-based company that manages the alliance, said Le Maire.
Tuesday, The Mayor presented a different vision. While expressing support for Ghosn's post office, he said the next president's "top priority" would be to strengthen the alliance, while the chief executive would be responsible for the day-to-day management of the company. He qualified Senard as an excellent candidate for the presidency.
Bollore, a 55-year-old Frenchman who began his career at Michelin, was put on line by Ghosn to replace him at Renault. After being named chief operating officer last year, Arndt Ellinghorst, an badyst at Evercore ISI, wrote that he could be perceived as a "more caring guardian of French jobs and interests."
Ghosn's last bail application was denied even after he proposed to stay in Japan until his trial, hand over his pbadports, wear an electronic tracker and be monitored. by private security agents, all at his own expense. At the January 8 hearing, the judge stated that Ghosn's continued detention was due to the risk that he would flee and that he would be tampered with by witnesses or evidence.
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