New Alliance board confirmed as Senard expected to take Nissan board role

12 March 2019

Following reports that discussions were taking place, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has confirmed a new single operating board structure.

Renault’s Jean-Dominique Senard will act as Chairman of this new operating board of the Alliance, with the CEOs of Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi Motors also joining the panel. The company says that the new Alliance operating board will drive the operational cooperation between Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors and look for new ways to generate value for its respective shareholders and employees.

In its release, Renault says: ′The new Alliance Board will be the sole body overseeing the operations and governance in the Alliance among Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, in lieu of [current Dutch entities] RNBV (Renault Nissan BV) and NMBV (Nissan Mitsubishi BV). As such, it will be the face and primary driver of the Alliance’s ″New Start″.’

In its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the company highlights that on the 20th anniversary of the Alliance’s founding, it is committing to its ″New Start″ to enhance and ensure further collaboration among Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.

′The strong history of the Alliance will be further enhanced by the Alliance Board, and we expect a continuation and acceleration of our win-win approach,’ the MOU adds. ′Operational activities will be enhanced and accelerated through a key focus on deliveries of strategic common projects on an increased agile mode, reporting as such directly to the Alliance Board for quick decision making.’

The MOU also states that Senard will be nominated by Nissan to become a director of the Japanese company with EGM approval. Further, it states that the Renault chairman is a ′natural candidate for the position of vice chairman and a representative director of Nissan.’ Such a role would be a lower grade than that originally held by former Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, whose allegations of financial misconduct caused significant instability in the Alliance when uncovered last year.

Senard had suggested that discussions over a possible role on Nissan’s board were too premature, with the priority being on ensuring the stability of the Alliance. The charges against Ghosn were a result of Nissan highlighting financial irregularities to Japanese prosecutors. It is believed this was part of a coup following the Brazilian’s attempts to have Renault take control of the carmaker.

Ghosn was removed from his role of chairman at Nissan shortly after his arrest, with Mitsubishi following suit soon after. Ghosn later resigned his role of CEO at Renault.