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Renault names new leaders as jailed Carlos Ghosn bows out

PARIS — Renault appointed Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as its new chairman on Thursday, after Carlos Ghosn was forced to resign in the wake of a financial scandal that has rocked the French carmaker and its alliance with Japan's Nissan. Senard will become chairman immediately, the company said, with deputy chief executive Thierry Bollore taking over Ghosn's other Renault role as full CEO. The appointments may begin to ease a Renault-Nissan leadership crisis that erupted after Ghosn's Nov. 19 arrest in Japan and swift dismissal as Nissan chairman. Senard, 65, now faces the task of soothing relations with Renault's Japanese partner and resuming talks on a new alliance structure to cement the 20-year-old partnership. "It's important that this alliance remain extremely strong," Senard told reporters after a board meeting - citing the mounting investment demands of new vehicle technologies. "It is our compulsory duty to go forward together." Ghosn's exit also marks a clear end to one of the auto industry's most feted careers, two decades after he was despatched by former Renault boss Louis Schweitzer to rescue newly acquired Nissan from near-bankruptcy — a feat he pulled off in two years. After 14 years as Renault CEO and a decade as chairman, Ghosn formally resigned from both roles on the eve of the board meeting. Ghosn's arrest and indictment for financial misconduct has strained the Renault-Nissan relationship, threatening the future of the industrial partnership he transformed into a global carmaking giant over two decades. For two months, the tensions deepened as Renault and the French government stuck by Ghosn despite the revelation he had arranged to be paid tens of millions of dollars in additional income, unbeknownst to shareholders. Ghosn has been charged with failing to disclose more than $80 million in additional compensation for 2010-18 that he had agreed to be paid later. Nissan director Greg Kelly and the Japanese company itself have also been indicted. Both men deny the deferred pay was illegal or required disclosure, while not contesting the agreements' existence. Ghosn has denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008. Ghosn had agreed in recent days to step down from Renault, Reuters reported on Tuesday — but only after the French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected.

Ghosn shares 'truth about Autonomous Drive cars'

Drive our cars. No, wait, don't drive our cars. Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn is delivering a message about autonomous driving that's less mixed than it sounds on the surface. As part of his public dialogue from LinkedIn's "Influencer" series, Ghosn said in a company announcement that "hands-free" driving is part of the Japanese automaker's "near-term technology." In fact, cars that can self-drive in heavy, stop-and-go traffic, may be ready for the market by late 2016. That should please texters everywhere. 2018 may be the year cars with lane-changing, hazard-avoiding capabilities will see the light of day, while by 2020, Nissan may feature a "complete package" of autonomous-driving features, Ghosn writes. As for the proverbial driver-less car? That's at least a decade out but ultimately likely, according to Ghosn. Nissan said early last year that some autonomous versions of its vehicles may be available in the US by the end of the decade, and that it was in talks with California regulators about the idea of self-driving cars on the state's roads. Nissan has worked with institutions such as MIT, Stanford and Oxford at developing autonomous-drive concepts, and has tested self-driving versions of the Leaf electric vehicles in Japan. Check out excerpts of the Ghosn "interview" below. The truth about Autonomous Drive cars, by Carlos Ghosn The following is the latest from Carlos Ghosn's LinkedIn Influencer series. Read all of Mr. Ghosn's LinkedIn Influencer articles here. There has been a lot of talk in the media recently about "Autonomous Drive" technology and a potential future of driverless cars. No doubt, Autonomous Drive technology will change how we approach driving. I expect it to result a significant transformation in transportation. But all the talk has left many drivers a bit confused. After years of promoting "eyes on the road, hands on the wheel," the auto industry is now talking about reading your email or a book while you drive – and the prospect of maybe not even needing a driver. So it's a good time to address the questions that arise whenever this subject comes up: Q: What is Autonomous Drive? A: Autonomous Drive combines the technology of robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors and car-to-car connectivity. It is a range of technologies that will be added to our cars over the next several years.

Nissan could report first quarterly loss since March 2009

TOKYO — Nissan may report its first quarterly loss in more than a decade on Thursday because of slumping sales, sources familiar with the company said, adding more pressure on efforts to rebuild the company after Carlos Ghosn's ouster. Deteriorating profits underscore the challenges facing Nissan, which is unwinding many of the expansionist strategies championed by ex-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Ghosn by slashing jobs, production sites and product offerings to save cash and ensure its survival. In addition to slumping sales, production disruptions caused by China's coronavirus outbreak could also drag profits lower. Three senior officials at Japan's No. 2 automaker told Reuters that they anticipate a poor results announcement on Thursday, with one of them calling the figures "dismal". Two of the officials cautioned that there is the possibility of an operating loss, which would be the first quarterly loss since the period ending in March 2009. Nissan said it could not comment on its financial results ahead of its official announcement. The company is likely to report operating profit of 48.6 billion yen ($442.5 million) for the quarter ending in December, less than half the 103 billion yen profit a year ago, according to SmartEstimate's survey of three analysts, who revised their forecasts in January. However, those forecasts were issued before the release of the December vehicle sales figures on Jan. 30, which show third-quarter sales dropped by 11% from the year earlier period, according to Reuters calculations. That is the biggest quarterly slump of its current sales downturn that began two years ago. That sales decline led one auto equities analyst based in Japan to scrap his forecast and also warn that Nissan could post a loss. "It will be a question of whether there will be a profit or a loss. For the quarter, a loss is a possibility," he said, declining to be named as his forecast had not been updated to reflect his latest view. One of the three Nissan officials said there is a risk the automaker may cut its full-year profit forecast of 150 billion yen, which would be an 11-year low. The company announced that forecast in November after an initial 230 billion yen outlook.