Ghosn eyes again as Mitsubishi Motors board meets

TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi Motors Corp's (7211.T), the council will meet on Monday to remove Carlos Ghosn from his post as president after his arrest and ouster of alliance partner, Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) last week for alleged financial misconduct.

The removal of Ghosn by the eight-member Mitsubishi board of directors, which meets at the manufacturer's headquarters in Tokyo at 4:30 pm (7:30 GMT), would end its chairmanship of Japanese automakers in the midst of discontent by the French partner Renault SA (RENA.PA) role in the alliance of 19 years.

Ghosn is the engine of the alliance sealed by Renault and Nissan in 1999, when the Japanese manufacturer was saved from bankruptcy. It was expanded in 2016 to include Mitsubishi and allowed members to jointly develop products and control costs.

The alliance rivals Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) for the ranking of the largest car manufacturer in the world.

Although Nissan has recovered and experienced rapid growth, it remains a junior partner in the shareholding structure. Renault holds a 43% stake in Nissan and the Japanese manufacturer holds a 15% non-voting interest in the French firm. And Nissan's sales are almost 60% larger than Renault's.

The top leaders of the alliance are meeting this week in Amsterdam to protect their joint operations from the fallout of the arrest of Ghosn as the power relationship between Nissan and Renault looms. Renault has refrained from dismissing him as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Hiroto Saikawa, CEO of Nissan, told staff Monday that power was too focused with Ghosn and that better communication between board members and alliance leaders would help preserve independence and to create synergies between automakers, said a spokesman for Nissan.

Ghosn pleaded for a closer merger, including a complete merger between Renault and Nissan, at the instigation of the French government, despite strong reservations expressed by the Japanese firm.

Nissan dismissed Mr. Ghosn at a high stakes board meeting on Thursday after accusations of underestimating his company's income and use of cash to personal purposes.

Ghosn denied the accusations, the state broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday.

His dismissal of Mitsubishi Motors would mark the dismissal of the man who would have stabilized the company after the scandal of cheating in 2016.

Nissan holds a 34% majority stake in Mitsubishi Motors and has two executives. The other representative is the CEO, Osamu Masuko, who said last week that the alliance could be difficult to manage without Ghosn.

While automakers pointed out that operations and operations were proceeding normally, Nissan has postponed the launch of its high-performance Leaf electric car in order to ensure that this important product unveiling can benefit from the coverage that it offers. 39 it deserves, "said a spokesman for Nissan.

Mitsubishi Motors shares rose 3.3%, while Nissan shares rose 1.8%, outperforming the 0.8% gain in the common market.