- Title: Renault ousts CEO in post Ghosn-era reset
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: MAUBEUGE, FRANCE (FILE - NOVEMBER 9, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KANGOO CARS PRODUCTION LINE IN FACTORY DRONE FLYING INSIDE FACTORY YOKOHAMA, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 2019) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF NISSAN HEADQUARTERS NISSAN LOGO
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 14:19
- Keywords: Bollore Senard Renault-Nissan alliance ousting
- Location: BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT AND MAUBEUGE, FRANCE / YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
- City: BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT AND MAUBEUGE, FRANCE / YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
- Country: France
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA004B0NMB0N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: SOUNDBITES OF SENARD ARE WEBSTREAM QUALITY / REUTERS WAS NOT ALLOWED TO FILM THE NEWS CONFERENCE. THIS EDIT CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH 5145-RENAULT-CEO/FILE, WHICH CONTAINS FILE IMAGES OF BOLLORE AND SENARD
Renault's board voted on Friday (October 11) to oust chief executive Thierry Bollore, as the French carmaker and Japanese partner Nissan seek a fresh start following the scandal-hit tenure of former alliance supremo Carlos Ghosn.
"The new air in the company needs new leadership. The new air in Renault needs a new boss who will breathe life into the company," Renault Group chairman Jean-Dominique Senard told journalists after the vote.
"This company must breathe. It must open itself up. It must feel that it has control of its future," he added.
Relations between Renault, which named its finance director as temporary CEO, and Nissan, which picked a new CEO on Tuesday (October 8), have been strained since Ghosn's arrest in Tokyo last year on allegations of financial misconduct, which he denies.
Bollore, who had long been Ghosn's right-hand man, was promoted to help steady Renault this year, with Senard hired from Michelin as chairman.
"Everyone recognises his capacity to continue steering the boat in extremely difficult conditions," Senard said of Bollore.
But Bollore had had an uneasy relationship with Nissan, according to sources familiar with the matter, and Renault and the French state, its key shareholder, have repeatedly emphasized their wish to repair ties and reinforce the alliance.
Tensions between the partners were further inflamed this year, including during various spats over governance reforms and after a failed deal under Senard's watch to pair up Renault with Fiat Chrysler, which withdrew a merger offer.
Renault said on Friday that financial director Clotilde Delbos would take over Bollore's job on an interim basis.
Bollore had denounced his looming exit as a "coup" in a newspaper interview on Thursday (October 10) evening, after news that Senard was poised to trigger his departure had emerged in the French press on Tuesday (October 8).
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