Nissan Motor announced on Thursday that Carlos Ghosn is to step down as chief executive officer of the company in April, to be replaced by the current chief operating officer Hiroto Saikawa.
The company said the move will allow Mr Ghosn to focus more attention on the integration of Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors (MMC), following the acquisition of a 34% controlling stake in the Japanese automaker last year.
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Ghosn will, however, remain CEO of Renault and chairman of all the three alliance companies – a group with combined sales approaching 10 million vehicles last year.
“Now is the right time for Hiroto Saikawa to succeed me as Nissan’s CEO” – Carlos Ghosn.
Ghosn told reporters the added responsibilities that came with the acquisition of Mitsubishi Motors meant that now is the “right time for Hiroto Saikawa to succeed me as Nissan’s CEO”.
He is expected to focus more on the integration of the three brands at all operating stages, from R&D to joint component and materials sourcing and platform sharing.
Renault-Nissan posted increased 2016 sales of 9.96m vehicles with the Alliance now representing one in nine global cars sold and 425,000 EVs.
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By GlobalDataThe Alliance figures include Mitsubishi sales of 934,013 vehicles globally.
“The combination of Groupe Renault, Nissan Motors and Mitsubishi Motors creates a new force in the global auto industry,” said chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn.
“The strength of this partnership that began 18 years ago has allowed us to improve our competitiveness, boost our growth and engage in the race for the vehicle of the future.”
Groupe Renault’s sales were up 13.3% to 3,182,625 vehicles in 2016 for the last year of the ‘Drive the Change’ plan, marking the fourth consecutive year of sales growth with a record year-on-year increase of 374,000 units.
Both Renault and Dacia brands had a record year in terms of sales volumes and Renault Samsung Motors volumes were up by 38.8%. Market share and sales volumes are up in all regions, with the Renault brand becoming number two in Europe.
Nissan sold a record 5,559,902 cars and trucks worldwide, up 2.5%. In the US and China, the company achieved sales growth of 5.4% and 8.4% respectively, setting new records in both markets.
