Ghosn’s arrest casts doubt on Renault-Nissan alliance future

FILE - In this May 12, 2016, file photo, head of Nissan Motor Co. Carlos Ghosn answers a question during their joint press conference in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Japanese media say Ghosn, Nissan Motor Co. chairman, is being questioned by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion he falsified his financial reports. Nissan said Monday it was looking into the reports, while prosecutors declined comment.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) FILE - In this May 12, 2016, file photo, head of Nissan Motor Co. Carlos Ghosn answers a question during their joint press conference in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Japanese media say Ghosn, Nissan Motor Co. chairman, is being questioned by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion he falsified his financial reports. Nissan said Monday it was looking into the reports, while prosecutors declined comment.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

By Associated Press November 20, 2018 3 min read

For years, France’s Renault and Japan’s Nissan struggled to make money in the global auto business.

Then came Carlos Ghosn, a Renault executive who helped to orchestrate an unprecedented transcontinental alliance, combining parts of both companies to share engineering and technology costs.

Now Ghosn’s arrest in Japan for alleged financial improprieties at Nissan could put the nearly 20-year-old alliance in jeopardy.

Ghosn, 64, born in Brazil, schooled in France and of Lebanese heritage, is set to be ousted this week from his spot as Nissan chairman. He could also lose his roles as CEO and chairman of Renault, threatening the alliance formed in 1999 that’s now selling more than 10 million automobiles a year.

He’s been “the glue that holds Renault and Nissan together,” Bernstein analyst Max Warburton wrote in a note to investors. “It is hard not to conclude that there may be a gulf opening up between Renault and Nissan.”