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French Government Seeks Integration of Renault and Nissan Automakers

posted by martyb on Monday January 21 2019, @03:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the we-should-get-together-some-time dept.

takyon writes:

Paris informs Tokyo it wants Renault and Nissan to integrate[*]

A French government delegation has informed Tokyo that it would seek an integration of Renault and Nissan, most likely under the umbrella of a single holding company, the Nikkei reported on Sunday.

The delegation, which included French government-designated Renault director Martin Vial, also said that it wanted to name Nissan's next chairman, according to the report. Nissan was not immediately available for comment.

Nissan ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn, arrested and detained in Tokyo since Nov. 19, has been indicted in Japan on charges of under-reporting his salary for eight years through March 2018, and temporarily transferring personal investment losses to Nissan during the global financial crisis. Ghosn has denied all charges.

[*] Noscript caused issues for me; same story can be found at U.S. News & World Report.

Previously: Nissan Motor Chairman and Others Set to be Indicted

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 21 2019, @04:50AM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 21 2019, @04:50AM (#789399) Journal
    More importantly why now rather than after the dust settles a bit? This kind of fubar is why the Japanese are so resistant to mixing in foreign businesses in the first place. They wouldn't have had this crap in the first place if Nissan had remained under Japanese ownership.

    What the French have to offer Nissan is a mystery. I expect those in charge at Nissan have similar thoughts.

    I doubt they'll merely ask nicely. There's probably a threat in there somewhere. Something is up from the start, since the French government is involved.

    "The French state, as shareholder, will have its say. What I can tell you, is that Jean-Dominique Senard has a renowned competence with regards to the automobile industry," Le Maire told France's Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

    According to Wikipedia, France owns 15% of Renault. Perhaps as a initial counterproposal, Japan could propose that France sells off completely its stakes in the automotive industry and eliminate a large conflict of interest prior to the proposed merger?

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday January 21 2019, @08:00AM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 21 2019, @08:00AM (#789459) Journal

    and eliminate a large conflict of interest prior to the proposed merger?

    Knowing Renault controls Nissan, where's the conflict of interest when a major stakeholder of Renault advances the idea of a full merger?

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 21 2019, @01:58PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 21 2019, @01:58PM (#789575) Journal

      Knowing Renault controls Nissan, where's the conflict of interest when a major stakeholder of Renault advances the idea of a full merger?

      There's always conflict of interest unless the major stakeholder is the only stakeholder and doesn't have any obligations, like say, governing France, that would conflict with the company's goals (I'm not too concerned about the company being compromised in that situation, but rather the other obligation, France being compromised for Renault's benefit, for a current example, by using some of France's diplomatic capital for a petty business maneuver). These sorts of games is a big part of the reason why I don't think government should own part of the private world. Renault's poor reputation (mentioned earlier) is also probably in part due to ongoing government interference. That's another reason.