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 — 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.