Keyword: Nissan

French carmaker Renault, partly state-owned, could reduce its stake in its Japanese counterpart Nissan in an effort to save the strained commercial alliance between the two marques, said France's economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire, adding that French plans for a merger between the two, resisted by Nissan, could be abandoned.

Former Nissan boss is put back under arrest over allegations he misused company funds, a surprise move he calls 'outrageous and arbitrary'.

Carlos Ghosn said some Nissan executives wanted to stop his plan to integrate Renault with its Japanese alliance partners, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

The case of the arrest and continued detention in Japan of Renault chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn over alleged financial misconduct has revealed the severity of the Japanese judicial system, which again denied him bail at a hearing in Tokyo this week. But it has also illustrated the situation of impunity granted in France to numerous high-placed individuals like Ghosn, writes Mediapart co-founder Laurent Mauduit in this opinion article. For while it now appears that the French government is finally moving towards his replacement as head of the French carmaker, economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire has until now done his utmost to protect Ghosn, even declaring that there was ‘nothing in particular to report’ on his tax situation in France, when in fact the boss of one of France's biggest industrial corporations has been a tax resident in the Netherlands since 2012.

Hundreds queue at Tokyo court for chance to see former chairman of Nissan and current Renault boss respond to financial misconduct claims.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of French carmaker Renault, and former chairman of Nissan, has been re-arrested in Japan over new allegations of financial misconduct, ending his hopes of a release from custody today after his arrested last month on suspicion of tax fraud.

French car manufacturer, of whom Ghosn is also chairman and CEO, had wanted Japanese partner firm to delay removal of boss after arrest.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman of Nissan and also chairman and chief executive of its French partner Renault, is said to have under-reported his income.

Chrysler cars at the Detroit car show in January 2016. © Reuters

Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën are not the only car makers to have used the same software to increase the prices of their spare parts. Mediapart, working with the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), Reuters and Belgian daily De Standaard, can reveal that 31 different car makers were approached to use the software and that at least three of them, Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover and Chrysler, have employed it to boost revenue. Between them these five huge automobile manufacturers have raked in an extra 2.6 billion euros from motorists around the world. Yann Philippin reports.

Last Friday, the board of French carmaker Renault insisted it would pay chief executive Carlos Ghosn a package of 7.2 million euros for his services in 2015, despite a revolt by shareholders who disapproved of the deal which economy minister Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday denounced as “excessive”. In this opinion article, Mediapart’s economic affairs correspondent Martine Orange argues that Ghosn, who is also paid a yearly 8 million euros as head of Nissan, is typical of a new caste of cynical oligarchs who are unaccountable to anyone, even to the very shareholders who first launched them on a path of greed.

Economy minister Emmanuel Macron unhappy at plans to dilute French government's shareholding in favour of Renault's partner Nissan.

The French government has reportedly irked Nissan and caught Renault board by surprise in move to double its stake and clout in the carmaker.

French car group will build partner company Nissan's next-generation Micra car at its Flins plant in an effort to utilise excess capacity.

The rumour mill is working overtime in the French business world and at Renault, where the carmaker's CEO Carlos Ghosn is fighting to keep his job after the fiasco of false espionage allegations against three top executives which saw them fired on false pretences, and led to the resignation of the company's N°2, Patrick Pelata. Officially all is well again, but Ghosn now faces a fierce battle against those determined to have his head for other reasons, not least French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Martine Orange and Laurent Mauduit report on the malaise surrounding the man at the wheel of one of France's industrial giants.