Nissan's car sales in China drop 44.9% in March due to coronavirus

Japanese automaker Nissan said on Wednesday that its car sales in China fell by 44.9% from a year before. The auto giant sold 73,297 units in March in China, the world's biggest car market.

Car sales and production have been hit hard in every coronavirus-hit country as factories were shut down and consumers forced to stay indoors due to the outbreak.

However, Nissan, which has a joint venture with Hubei-based Dongfeng Motor, said in a statement that it sees "signs of recovery in the market".

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Meanwhile, rival Toyota's China sales dropped 15.9% year-on-year in March while Honda's fell 50.8%.

In February, car sales tanked by 79.1% year-on-year when just 3,10,000 vehicles were sold across the country, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said last month. 

Nissan Motor picks Makoto Uchida as CEO, Ashwani Gupta as COO: Report

VThe board of Nissan Motor Co has picked Senior Vice President Makoto Uchida as its next chief executive and Ashwani Gupta as its chief operating officer, two sources said on Tuesday, following a board meeting of the scandal-hit automaker.

Directors at Nissan, including those from top shareholder Renault SA, voted unanimously in favour of the two executives, one of the sources said. Both of the sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

No one was immediately available for comment at Nissan. The automaker was due to hold a news conference at 1130 GMT.

The decision, earlier reported by the Nikkei newspaper, comes after months of turmoil at Japan's second-largest automaker following the downfall of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn last year and the departure of former CEO Hiroto Saikawa last month.

Ghosn is awaiting trial in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges that he denies.

Saikawa was forced to step down after he admitted to being improperly overpaid.

The internal strife also has implications for Nissan's often difficult relationship with Renault

Uchida was not seen as one of the frontrunners in the race to be the next chief executive, Reuters has reported.

The India-born Gupta is currently COO of alliance junior partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

Nissan CEO to resign as board set to discuss audit on Carlos Ghosn scandal

The CEO of crisis-hit Japanese automaker Nissan plans to resign, reports said Monday, as the firm's board meets to discuss an audit launched after former chief Carlos Ghosn's arrest over financial misconduct. 

Hiroto Saikawa's reported decision to step down comes days after he admitted receiving overpayments, and is the latest blow to the firm after Ghosn's arrest and ouster.

Nissan said it had no immediate comment on the reports, which first emerged overnight.

The timing of Saikawa's resignation, as well as who will succeed him, have reportedly not yet been decided but the embattled CEO is said to have informed several Nissan executives of his decision.

Nissan's board, including executives from the firm's alliance partner Renault, will meet at the company's Yokohama headquarters outside Tokyo from Monday afternoon.

Their discussions, which will include the results of an internal Nissan audit, are expected to "run late into the night", sources told AFP.

 

The audit was launched in the wake of the Ghosn scandal but appears to have implicated Saikawa and other executives for receiving excess pay as part of a scheme under which directors can earn a bonus if their company's share price rises above a certain level in a set period.

Saikawa is suspected of improperly adding 47 million yen ($440,000) to his compensation by altering the terms of a bonus, according to reports.

Nissan has not confirmed the details of the payments, but Saikawa apologised last week, while denying any wrongdoing.

"I left the issue to someone else so I had thought it was dealt with in an appropriate manner," he told reporters.

The carmaker is currently undergoing an overhaul intended to strengthen governance after the Ghosn scandal.

In June, Nissan shareholders voted in favour of various measures including the establishment of three new oversight committees responsible for the appointment of senior officials, pay issues and auditing.

They also approved the election of 11 directors as the firm restructures, among them two Renault executives as well as Saikawa.

The reforms are designed to put Nissan on a more stable footing after the arrest of Ghosn, who has been sacked from his leadership roles at the Japanese firm and others.

 

He is awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting millions of dollars in salary and of using company funds for personal expenses.

Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing and accuses Nissan executives opposed to his plans to further integrate the firm with France's Renault of plotting against him.

Saikawa, a one-time Ghosn protege, turned sharply against his former mentor after his arrest, referring to the "dark side" of the tycoon's tenure and accusing him of accruing unchecked power that allowed his alleged wrongdoing to go undetected.

But the CEO has come under pressure himself in the scandal's wake, facing calls to resign from shareholders who view him as too heavily associated with the Ghosn era.

And while he resisted calls to step down immediately, he has said that he plans to hand over the reins after Nissan is back on track.

The Ghosn scandal has proved disastrous for Nissan, which in July announced that net profit plunged nearly 95 per cent in the April-June quarter, and confirmed it would cut 12,500 jobs worldwide. 

 

The Japanese firm has also struggled to steady its relationship with Renault as part of a tripartite alliance with Mitsubishi Motors that Ghosn founded and once led.

Renault holds a 43-per cent stake in the Japanese automaker, which in turn controls 15 per cent of the French firm but has no voting rights -- an arrangement that has caused tensions.

"There are working theories" on a possible reform of the cross-holding structure between the two firms, a source close to the issue told AFP, adding that "nothing is official".

And Nissan faces other challenges, with Bloomberg News reporting that Christina Murray, the executive who led the company's audit, is also resigning, without giving details on why. 

Nissan CEO Saikawa admits receiving excess pay, but denies any wrongdoing

The head of crisis-hit Japanese automaker Nissan admitted Thursday he received more pay than he was entitled to but denied wrongdoing, as the firm's former chief faces financial misconduct charges.

Nissan is already mired in scandal over the arrest and ouster of ex-boss Carlos Ghosn, who is accused of wrongdoing including misrepresenting his compensation.

And on Thursday, current CEO Hiroto Saikawa acknowledged he had received pay to which he was not entitled.

"I left the issue to someone else so I had thought it was dealt with in an appropriate manner," he told reporters in Tokyo.

But he denied any wrongdoing and said he would return the excess payments.

The admission came after local media reported an internal Nissan probe found that Saikawa and other executives received more equity-linked remuneration than they were entitled to.

Contacted by AFP, the automaker said "findings from Nissan's internal investigation are scheduled to be reported to the board of directors on September 9".

"We have heard that share appreciation rights will also be part of this report," it added, declining to comment further.

The Nikkei business daily said Saikawa was suspected of improperly adding 47 million yen ($443,000) to his compensation by altering the terms of a bonus.

However, Nissan does not believe the overpayment was illegal, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed sources.

The overpayments were made in a scheme known as stock appreciation right, under which directors can receive a bonus if their company's share price rises above a certain level in a set time period.

Nissan is currently undergoing an overhaul intended to strengthen governance after the Ghosn scandal.

In June, Nissan shareholders voted in favour of various measures including the establishment of three new oversight committees responsible for the appointment of senior officials, pay issues and auditing.

They also approved the election of 11 directors as the firm restructures, among them two Renault executives as well as Saikawa.

The reforms are designed to put Nissan on a more stable footing after the arrest of Ghosn, who has been sacked from his leadership roles at the Japanese firm and others.

He is awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting millions of dollars in salary and of using company funds for personal expenses.

He has denied any wrongdoing and accuses Nissan executives opposed to his plans to further integrate the firm with France's Renault of plotting against him.

Tatsuo Yoshida, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, told AFP that Saikawa's "leadership authority is jeopardised" by the pay scandal.

Already weakened by the Ghosn fallout, Saikawa's standing as CEO is "even more fragile than before", Yoshida said.

"Before, the chances of his resignation were maybe 30 percent, the chances are now 50-50 or even higher.

Renault warns alliance partner Nissan it will block governance reshuffle

French carmaker Renault has warned its alliance partner Nissan that it will block the Japanese auto firm's plan to overhaul its governance structure, Nissan confirmed Monday, a move it called "regrettable." In a statement, the Japanese firm said it had received a letter from Renault "indicating intention to abstain from voting", a move that would mean the proposed changes fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

"Nissan finds Renault's stance on this matter most regrettable, as such a stance runs counter to the company's efforts to improve its corporate governance," CEO Hiroto Saikawa said in a statement.

Renault's decision, first reported by the Financial Times, was taken over fears the proposed governance changes could reduce its influence, the paper said.

The move by Renault, which is Nissan's largest shareholder, is likely to further strain ties between the two firms after the shock arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn.

A spokesman for Renault contacted by AFP had no comment.

Renault is pushing for a full merger between the pair, but there is deep scepticism of the plan at Nissan.

Last month, Fiat Chrysler stunned the auto world by proposing a merger with Renault that would -- together with Renault's Japanese partners Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors -- create a car giant spanning the globe.

But the deal collapsed suddenly on Thursday, with the Italian-US carmaker FCA saying negotiations had become "unreasonable" due to political resistance in Paris.

Relations between Renault and Nissan have been tested over the arrest in November of their joint boss Ghosn, who awaits trial in Japan on charges of financial misconduct.

Nissan has said the alleged misconduct was the result of governance failings inside the firm, and that the proposed overhauls are necessary to ensure wrongdoing is not possible in the future.

Renault's director to join Nissan board in overhaul for better governance

Japanese car giant Nissan shook up its executive board on Friday, adding a top director from partner Renault as it battles the fallout from the Carlos Ghosn saga and disappointing results.

The firm will propose to shareholders a new board structure with 11 members, six of whom will be external, as Nissan attempts to improve corporate governance in the wake of former chairman Ghosn's arrest for alleged financial misconduct.

"With the lessons from the recent executive misconduct still fresh, Nissan resolves to rigorously pursue separation of supervisory and executive functions," said the firm.

Renault chief executive Thierry Bollore will join his colleague from the French firm, chairman Jean-Dominique Senard on the board, with the two partner firms are at odds on how close their ties should be.

The appointment appears intended to calm tensions between the firms.

A source close to the matter said Bollore's appointment was a major concession from Nissan towards Renault "given that Nissan's management has very little confidence" in the French executive.

Bollore stood by Ghosn for a long time after his arrest, sparking anger at Nissan, whose internal investigation brought down its former boss.

Another source said Senard "had pushed for this appointment but the Japanese refused at the beginning." Senard has already been sitting on the Nissan board since he was elected to replace Ghosn at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April.

"For Renault, it's about having someone on the board, next to Senard, who knows the story, a heavyweight who will share Senard's views," said the second source.

Nissan boss Hiroto Saikawa will keep his job despite mounting pressure on him to step down after a set of disastrous results, with net profits expected to plunge to a decade-low in the coming year.

Several shareholders have called for Saikawa to be sacked before his term comes up for renewal in June but the former Ghosn protege has insisted he wants to stay on and guide the reforms he hopes will return Nissan to profitability.

The firm has been crippled by the reputational damage caused by the legal woes of former chairman Ghosn, who faces four formal charges of financial misconduct. He denies any wrongdoing.

But analysts point to several problems for Nissan beyond Ghosn, including apparently declining relations with its French partner Renault and a dearth of new products.

"At this time of radical transformation in the automotive industry, Nissan urgently needs to establish a highly effective governance structure to enhance business capabilities and achieve sustainable corporate value," the company said in its statement.

Saikawa has brushed off calls for his resignation, saying he wanted to launch a fresh start for the firm and would discuss the timing of his stepping down "at the appropriate time." Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors make up an unusual three-way alliance that has grown to become the top-selling car group.

Ghosn was the driving force between bringing the firms together and has since alleged that Nissan launched an investigation into him over fears he was hoping to merge the Japanese and French companies.

Saikawa has admitted "differences of opinion" with Senard on the future make-up of the alliance, including the capital partnership between the two companies.

Renault is pushing towards a merger of the two firms but Nissan executives are more sceptical.