雷诺炒掉首席执行官，彻底摆脱丑闻阴影

雷诺汽车公司跟合作伙伴日产汽车一样换掉了首席执行官，因为两家汽车制造商都在努力摆脱卡洛斯·戈恩时代的阴影。

知情人士表示，戈恩被捕近一年后，两家汽车制造商准备重整20年的合作关系，因此蒂埃里·博洛尔执掌雷诺汽车的前景越发不稳定。博洛尔曾经在戈恩领导下担任雷诺的二把手，今年1月接任首席执行官。

知情人士说，长期持有雷诺15%股份的法国政府一直怀疑博洛尔是戈恩时代的残余势力，由于涉及机密，知情人士要求匿名。公司内部人士还表示，董事长让·多米尼克-塞纳德跟博洛尔关系紧张，7月波洛尔下调公司今年的财务目标后遭到批评。

该人士表示，撤换博洛尔的主要问题在于没有明显合适的继任者。不过10月8日《费加罗报》援引匿名消息人士的话称，塞纳德还是要求雷诺董事会寻找接任者。报道称，10月18日的董事会会议可能审议首席执行官接任问题。雷诺发言人拒绝置评。

脆弱的联盟

今年9月，汽车制造商日产的首席执行官西川广人因为薪酬丑闻辞职。随后，日产任命53岁的中国合资企业负责人内田诚为首席执行官，与新任首席运营官阿西瓦尼·古普塔合作。雷诺曾因西川广人涉嫌戈恩的不当行为要求解除其职务，早些时候曾经表示支持内田诚和古普塔。

戈恩曾经执掌雷诺和日产多年，去年11月因为涉嫌财务不端被抓，之前曾维持两家公司合作20年，不过戈恩否认了指控。戈恩的垮台暴露了日产的公司治理有多么糟糕，也凸显了两家汽车制造商之间长期酝酿的紧张关系。

两家公司的新任高层导可能重启谈判恢复合作。长期以来，日产一直要求与雷诺的持股实现平衡，目前雷诺持有日产43%的股份，日产仅持有雷诺15%的无表决权股份。

国家角色

法国财政部部长布鲁诺·勒梅尔称，政府不会干预雷诺的管理。10月9日，勒梅尔在卢森堡表示，完全相信塞纳德“能与董事会选定最佳治理方案，执行之前确定的产业战略。”

现年56岁的博洛尔在问答环节向员工发表讲话，但并未回复置评请求。日产内部人士批评他从一开始就在拖延公司对戈恩的调查，对日产的调查结果态度也太“谨慎”。戈恩在日本被抓后不久，博洛尔发给员工一封信，保证会“全力支持”戈恩。

2019年塞纳德被任命为雷诺董事长，之后遇到重重困难。他推动与日产合并，但日产拒绝了。他想让日产支持雷诺与菲亚特克莱斯勒公司的合作，但还是失败了，后来差点辞职。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：夏林

Renault SA may take a cue from partner Nissan Motor Co. in changing chief executives as the carmakers seek to move on from the Carlos Ghosn era.

The future of Thierry Bollore at the helm of Renault looks increasingly precarious as the manufacturers prepare to reshape their two-decade partnership nearly a year after Ghosn’s arrest, people familiar with the situation said. Bollore, formerly second-in-command at Renault under Ghosn, replaced him as CEO in January.

Bollore has long been viewed with suspicion by the French government, which holds a 15% stake in Renault, as a holdover from the Ghosn years, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. Company insiders have also described tense relations between Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and Bollore, who met with criticism after the company lowered its financial targets for the year in July.

The main obstacle to replacing Bollore is the lack of an obvious successor, the people said. Even so, Senard will ask the carmaker’s board to start a search for a replacement, Le Figaro reported on October 8, citing unidentified sources. The question of CEO succession may come under review at an Oct. 18 board meeting, the newspaper said. Representatives for Renault declined to comment.

Fragile Alliance

The move would come after Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa resigned in September following a scandal over pay. On Tuesday, the carmaker tapped Makoto Uchida, 53, the head of its China joint venture, as CEO, to work alongside new Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta. Renault had sought Saikawa’s removal for his role in the alleged wrongdoing by Ghosn, and signaled support for Uchida and Gupta early on.

Ghosn, who headed Renault and Nissan for years, held their two-decade partnership together until his arrest last November on allegations of financial misconduct, which he has denied. His downfall exposed poor corporate governance at Nissan and brought long-standing tensions between the automakers to the fore.

Renewed leadership atop both companies may help rekindle talks to repair the partnership. Nissan has long demanded a balancing in its shareholding relationship with Renault, which holds 43% of the Japanese firm compared with Nissan’s 15% non-voting stake in the French carmaker.

State Role

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the government won’t meddle in Renault’s governance. Speaking in Luxembourg on October 9, Le Maire said he has full confidence in Senard “to choose with the board the best governance to carry out the industrial strategy that we have defined.”

The 56-year-old Bollore, who is scheduled to address employees in a Q&A session Thursday, didn’t return requests for comment. He has been criticized by Nissan insiders for at first delaying investigations into the company’s allegations against Ghosn and adopting a cautious approach over Nissan’s findings. Shortly after Ghosn’s arrest in Japan, Bollore pledged “full support” for the leader in a letter to employees.

Senard, appointed chairman in 2019, has had a rocky tenure at Renault. He pushed for a merger with Nissan that the company rebuffed and came close to resigning after he failed to convince the Japanese carmaker to support a tie-up between Renault and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.