Japan believes it is important for Nissan Motor Co, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors Corp to maintain a stable alliance, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Japan believes it is important for Nissan Motor Co, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors Corp to maintain a stable alliance, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the comment in a regular news conference.
The three automakers' alliance has been jolted by the arrest this week of Nissan's Chairman Carlos Ghosn on suspicion of financial misconduct.
Ghosn is also chairman and chief executive of Nissan's French partner Renault and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors, the third partner in the alliance.
Nissan said on Monday Ghosn was arrested for alleged financial misconduct and would be fired from the board this week. Ghosn is also chairman and chief executive of Nissan's French partner, Renault.
Ousting Ghosn is bound to raise questions about an alliance that he personally shaped and had pledged to consolidate with a deeper tie-up, before eventually stepping back from its operational leadership.
Ghosn's alleged improprieties also raise questions over governance at the alliance in which the three partners' boards are all chaired by a single executive.
Speaking at a late-night news conference on Monday, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa conceded that too much power had been concentrated on Ghosn, and that the implications of his stewardship of both Renault and Nissan had gone unquestioned since 2005.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly conspired to understate Ghosn's compensation over five years starting in fiscal 2010 as being about half of the actual 9.998 billion yen ($88.9 million).
The Asahi newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying a company employee gave prosecutors information on Ghosn in return for lighter treatment, the second instance of a plea deal in Japan - a system introduced in June.
There has been no comment from Ghosn or Kelly on the allegations and Reuters could not contact them for comment.
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 "Japan government calls for stable alliance among Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi")
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