NEW YORK ¨C Is the Renault-Nissan alliance stronger than the man who led it for two decades?
The omens don¡¯t look good. The downfall of Carlos Ghosn over allegations of financial misconduct has opened up a Pandora¡¯s Box of Franco-Japanese political hostility, grudges and pressure tactics ¡ª supposedly all in the name of ¡°strengthening¡± the 20-year alliance. For all Ghosn¡¯s flaws and delusions of grandeur, he did manage to balance the interests of two prickly Group of Seven economies in the highly sensitive auto sector (at least until he came a cropper). His successors will do well to last a fraction as long.
On the French side, Renault SA¡¯s chairman Jean-Dominique Senard was parachuted in to rescue relations with Nissan Motor Co. after Ghosn¡¯s arrest. But he¡¯s failing to live up to his billing as a veteran captain of industry and diplomat¡¯s son. First he tried to rush his Japanese counterparts into accepting a full Renault-Nissan merger. Then he tried and failed to get Nissan¡¯s blessing for a tie-up with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, an embarrassment for the French president Emmanuel Macron. Not a great start.
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