Mitsubishi Follows Nissan’s Footsteps, Sacks Carlos Ghosn From Chairman

Following Nissan’s similar decision, Mitsubishi Motors announced the removal of Carlos Ghosn from the Chairman position after the executive’s arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct last week.

Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko will become temporary Chairman, the company said in a statement.

That leaves Renault as the only company in the alliance with Ghosn still as the chairman and CEO. Executives from all three car makers will meet this week in Amsterdam in order to shield their alliance from the fallout of Ghosn’s arrest, Reuters reports.

Ghosn became Chairman of Mitsubishi, after Renault-Nissan acquired a 34 percent stake in 2016. At that time, Mitsubishi was still suffering from a fuel economy scandal as the company had admitted rigging the official tests. Ghosn was soon praised for bringing stability to the troubled automaker.

Analysts predict an incoming power struggle between Nissan and Renault, now that Ghosn is out of the picture. The Japanese car maker is still a junior partner in the alliance structure, despite being almost 60 percent bigger than Renault by sales. The French carmaker owns 43 percent of Nissan, while the Japanese company holds a 15 percent non-voting stake in Renault.

Carlos Ghosn, who according to Japanese media denies the misconduct allegations, was allegedly pushing for a deeper tie-up between Renault and Nissan, and despite the Japanese company’s strong reservations.