Nissan removes key Ghosn-era powerbroker
Japanese carmaker pushes out alleged architect of ousted chairman’s pay scheme
Nissan has pushed out a powerbroker involved in events that led to Carlos Ghosn’s downfall, as the troubled carmaker steps up its efforts to make a clean break with the past.
The company’s board on Friday unanimously agreed to remove Hitoshi Kawaguchi, who heads its communications and legal departments as well as the corporate management office, following a push from non-executive directors, according to one person close to the board.
Mr Kawaguchi’s departure follows a report in the Financial Times about his role in Mr Ghosn’s compensation scheme, which is at the centre of allegations that led to the former chairman’s arrest last November.
The company is determined to end a period of vicious infighting and clashes with its French partner Renault, according to people close to the Japanese group. The exit of Mr Kawaguchi is part of a broader reshuffle of its executive ranks as the carmaker seeks to build support for its new management team.
According to people with direct knowledge of the situation, Mr Kawaguchi in 2013 proposed a way to extend the vesting period for tens of millions of dollars worth of stock appreciation rights (SARs) from one to five years, potentially allowing Mr Ghosn to postpone full disclosure of his pay.
One of the allegations on which the former chairman faces criminal trial is that he contrived to understate his pay in company documents after a Japanese rule change in 2010 required more stringent disclosure. Mr Ghosn denies all charges against him.
Mr Kawaguchi has previously told the FT he had proposed to Mr Ghosn and other Nissan executives a delay in exercising the SARs until March 2017, the final year of Nissan’s midterm plan. He denied the recommendation was made to avoid disclosure of their pay.
Mr Ghosn’s lawyers said this month they believed Mr Kawaguchi was one of three senior Nissan executives who had launched a secret investigation into the former chairman’s financial dealings ahead of his arrest.
Mr Kawaguchi will leave the company in December. Nissan declined to make him available for comment.
In a statement on Friday the carmaker also said Makoto Uchida, the 53-year-old head of its China business, and Ashwani Gupta, the 49-year-old chief operating officer at its partner Mitsubishi, will take over respectively as chief executive and COO from December 1 instead of January as previously announced.
People close to the company said there was an urgency to clean house as Nissan and Renault came under renewed pressure to strengthen their alliance after French rival PSA agreed to merge with Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler.
The latest consolidation in the car industry came after FCA walked away from merger talks with Renault in May.
A person close to Nissan’s board said FCA’s deal with PSA would remove a source of distraction for the alliance. “It’s an incentive to strengthen the alliance. In a way, it sets a sense of urgency in a higher intensity since people were waiting a lot for this deal,” the person said. “We just cannot be alone. Now it’s a reality.”