Renault granted seats on Nissan board

21 June 2019

Nissan is set to grant alliance member Renault two seats on its board, ending a long-standing dispute between the two carmakers.

Renault CEO Thierry Bolloré will gain a seat on the Nissan board’s audit committee and Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard will gain a seat on its nomination committee as well as become vice-chairman of the board.

′Groupe Renault welcomes Nissan’s decision to grant Renault’s representatives a seat on the committees of the Nissan board, which will be presented to the general shareholders’ meeting on June 25,’ Renault said.

′The agreement reached on Renault’s presence in Nissan’s new governance confirms the spirit of dialogue and mutual respect that exists within the alliance,’ they continued.

Changing places

Adding Renault to its board is counter to the proposal that Nissan proposed to its board structure earlier this month. The proposed plan, forwarded by Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, would not have granted Renault seats on its board.

′We firmly believe that Renault’s rights as 43.4% shareholder of Nissan need to be fully recognized and, at a minimum, one or two directors proposed by Renault should be members of each of the three committees,’ a letter from Renault to Nissan said at the time. ′As currently proposed, this does not seem to be the case.’

′Nissan finds Renault’s new stance on this matter most regrettable, as such a stance runs counter to the company’s efforts to improve its corporate governance,’ the company said in a statement at the time.

Firm ties

The new board structure makes the two carmakers closer than before, a sentiment echoed by Bolloré earlier this week.

′For us it is so important that we continuously improve our alliance. Not only for now, but also for the future and this is the mindset which we are in, and these are the discussions we have with our partners,’ Bolloré said.

The need for closer ties was brought to the fore after it was speculated that Renault may have to reduce its stake in Nissan in order to make a merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) possible.