Last September, two months before his arrest in Tokyo, then-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn and the carmaker¡¯s chief executive officer considered bringing in a new partner for the alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., according to an email.
At the time, Ghosn was under pressure to make the three-way automobile alliance ¡°irreversible.¡± In a message to Ghosn seen by Bloomberg, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa wrote that he had been working over the summer ¡°quietly by myself,¡± at his boss¡¯s request, to find a structure that would be ¡°acceptable for both sides.¡± He offered to discuss possibilities with Ghosn.
In the correspondence, Saikawa raised the possibility of bringing in another manufacturer as a fourth partner for the alliance. He didn¡¯t identify any potential candidate. He wrote that expansion opportunities also included ¡°acquisition of Chinese companies¡± for electric vehicles or connected services.
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