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TOKYO (AP) – Nissan Motor Co. has fired Thursday Thursday Carlos Ghosn as chairman of the board, putting an end to the reign of the powerful leader on the Japanese manufacturer after his arrest for alleged financial irregularities.
The company's board unanimously voted to remove Ghosn to the presidency and representative representation, Nissan said in a statement. His internal investigation, triggered by a whistleblower, revealed a serious misconduct, including an under-reporting of his income and an improper use of the company's assets.
One of the biggest figures in the automotive industry, he is a man who contributed to the restructuring of Renault SA in France and Nissan, then to the management of an alliance between them, which sold 10.6 million cars last year, surpassing its rivals.
In a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nissan said its investigation revealed an improper use of corporate investment funds and money spending for personal purposes.
Earlier this week, Renault decided to retain Ghosn as managing director, but Thierry Bollore, its chief operating officer, was appointed acting director.
Another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, was arrested in Japan because he was suspected of collaborating with the wrongdoing. He will also be removed from his position as director of representation, Nissan said. Their replacements will be decided later, he added.
Ghosn, 64, is suspected of underreporting $ 44.6 million in revenue from 2011 to 2015, according to Tokyo attorneys.
The Nissan Board of Directors is made up of nine members, including Ghosn and Greg Kelly. The other seven members of the board of directors voted at the meeting, including two members of Nissan and two of Renault.
Ghosn and Kelly will remain on Nissan's board for the moment, this decision being made by shareholders. No date has yet been set for a shareholder meeting.
Ghosn is also chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., a smaller Japanese automaker, a partner in the Renault-Nissan alliance, which plans to hold a board meeting next week.
Ghosn has been in detention since being detained on Monday in a Tokyo detention center on the same terms as other detainees, Tokyo deputy prosecutor Shin Kukimoto said on Thursday. He gave little details about the case.
Under Japanese law, suspects can be detained for up to 20 days by possible charge without formal indictment. Extra charges may be tagged, resulting in longer holdings. Neither has been charged so far.
The maximum penalty for violations of finance and foreign exchange laws is 10 years imprisonment, a fine of 10 million yen ($ 89,000), or both.
French citizen born in Brazil, Ghosn became a kind of superstar in Japan because he led the Nissan revival since the bankruptcy after Renault sent him to help in 1999.
Ghosn was managing director of Nissan from 2001 to last year. He became general manager of Renault in 2005, simultaneously managing the two car manufacturers. In 2016, he also became president of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. after Nissan incorporated it into the alliance.
Kelly, 62, joined Nissan, the maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, in the United States in 1988. He became a member of the board of directors in 2012. He worked in human resources and sales. alliance management.
Analysts believe that the future alliance between Nissan and Renault may be at stake, although Nissan's statement on Thursday revealed that the company's leadership was determined to downplay the impact of Ghosn's cause on the partnership. Renault owns 43% of Nissan's capital and 15% of it.
"The long-standing alliance partnership with Renault remains unchanged," said Nissan's statement in English, highlighting the alliance rather than the misdeeds.
The board will also explore the possibility of establishing a third-party committee to strengthen management and compensation governance at Nissan.
President and CEO Hiroto Saikawa, during a long press conference on Monday, said that too much power had been concentrated in Ghosn, and that too few credits had been granted to the many other people working for the company's success.
Janet Lewis, general manager and director of industrial research for Asia at Macquarie Capital Securities in Tokyo, said in an interview that an adjustment was needed to give Nissan more of a say in the future. alliance with Renault.
The partnership remains crucial for both companies, she said, because in addition to financial ties, companies share technology and components.
Car manufacturers must look more like roommates than married couples. "So they have to find a way to share their home and pool all their expertise, because it's very necessary for new automotive technology and the development of a new platform," Lewis said.
"They need to find a way to continue along this path while living happily together in the same house."
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Mari Yamaguchi, an Associated Press reporter, contributed to this report.
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