(MENAFN- Asia Times)
Five years ago this month, on Monday, December 30, 2019, Carlos Ghosn shocked the world by making a sensational escape from Japan to his home country of Lebanon. Reports that he was in Lebanon made it to the French press around 9:30 pm GMT and then, shortly after, around the world.
The once celebrated chief executive of the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors alliance is still fighting to clear his name, while Nissan's business situation has deteriorated again, as media reports indicate that the automaker could be heading toward bankruptcy.
Ghosn, in an exclusive interview with Asia Times, said he doesn't think bankruptcy is likely.“But they need money and they need investment,” he said.“Management has no idea how to turn things around.
He doesn't believe that an alliance with Honda Motor Co., a theme of recent press coverage, will materialize.“What I believe is that there could be a takeover. The Japanese government might decide that it can't let Nissan collapse. But as you know, a takeover is not an alliance. It's just a takeover, which also means that the company taking control is going to do it its own way and get rid of what it doesn't need. That may happen,” he said.
“Also, remember that Honda is fiercely independent and has never been able to establish an alliance. They've bragged over the years that they're the little guy going alone against Toyota.”
An added concern is that Honda hasn't been a leader in its automotive business. Even in the United States, which is its main market, Honda's market share is less than 10%. In Europe, it is less than 1%. In Japan – where it is now the fourth-leading brand, up one place from fifth the previous year – it still accounts for only 11% of the market, virtually unchanged.
Meanwhile, its profit margin in the first half of the current fiscal year, April to September, is only
3.6%, well down on the list of global automakers.
Things fell apart at Nissan post-Ghosn
Nissan's operating profit fell 90% during the same period to
32.9 billion yen. Its operating profit margin is now
0.5%. More significantly, vehicle sales this year are expected to drop to 3.4 million, down from 5.7 million in fiscal 2017 and 5.5 million units in fiscal 2018, the final two years Ghosn was in charge.
“Frankly, a lot of people have asked me how is it that after I left, everything collapsed,” he said.“But not only did I leave. A lot of other people left with me.” Ghosn previously estimated around a dozen.“And these were people who had grown up in the organization.”
He singled out José Muñoz, who in November became the CEO of Hyundai Motor Co.“Muñoz was one of the most promising talents at Nissan,” he said.“Several weeks after my arrest, he left.”
Muñoz, who spent five years in Tennessee as head of Nissan's North American operation, left Nissan on January 11, 2019 , two months after Ghosn's arrest. He had been warned by the US ambassador, a Tennessee native, not to return to Japan after receiving a summons to do so.
Muñoz joined Hyundai three months later in
April 2019 as chief global operating officer. He had been on the short list to become Nissan's next president in 2018.
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