Ghosn is being held in a Japanese jail on charges of under-reporting his income, and France is keen to maintain a “balance” in the alliance, President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday (Ludovic MARIN)

Paris (AFP) – The heads of automakers Renault and Nissan will meet Thursday in Amsterdam for the first time since former boss Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Japan and resigned, a source close to the companies said.

The source said Monday that the Dutch-based alliance’s board would hold an “operational meeting” scheduled well in advance of Ghosn’s resignation, but declined to say if the nomination of a new president was on the agenda.

The French carmaker declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Last week, Renault named Thierry Bollore as chief executive and Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman, filling the posts that Ghosn had held previously.

Nissan and Renault are equal partners in the alliance, which coordinates activities and elaborates medium- and long-term strategy for the companies, but according to a restated agreement, the Renault CEO is its president.  

Ghosn is being held in a Japanese jail on charges of under-reporting his income, and France is keen to maintain a “balance” in the alliance, President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday.

Renault currently owns 43 percent of Japanese automaker Nissan, which itself has a 15 percent stake in the French company and 34 percent of Mitsubishi Motors.

Nissan has outperformed its French partner recently however, and Ghosn’s arrest could harm Renault’s influence in the alliance, which was the world’s leading automaker in 2017 with sales of 10.6 million vehicles.

France is Renault’s shareholder, and holds 22 percent of its voting rights.

Disclaimer: This story is published from a syndicated feed. Siliconeer does not assume any liability for the above story. Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Content copyright AFP.