By Sean McLain
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 26, 2019).
TOKYO -- Jean-Dominique Senard showed up at Nissan Motor Co.'s
annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday in a Toyota -- and the
proceedings only got rockier from there.
The chairman of Renault SA, Nissan's top shareholder, found a
restive crowd of company loyalists who accused him of betraying the
Japanese auto maker on behalf of Renault and the French state. He
fought back, visibly angry.
"I would like to remind you that since I arrived, I did
everything to smoothen the relationship of an alliance that I found
in a much worse state than I thought. I've done everything I
could," said Mr. Senard, who joined Renault in January and Nissan's
board several months later.
The meeting managed to finish its main business, electing a
Nissan board with more independent directors and new committees to
oversee management. And it produced a conciliatory statement from
Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa about Mr. Senard's hope for a
merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.
But the nearly 3 1/2 -hour affair pointed to a strained
Renault-Nissan alliance with little trust in reserve after the
downfall of Carlos Ghosn , the executive who had dominated both
auto makers until his November arrest in Japan.
One shareholder said Nissan's profit was low compared with the
boost of EUR5.7 billion ($6.5 billion) that the Renault-Nissan
alliance says came from the partnership last year in the way of
cost savings and added revenue.
"Are you sure you're benefiting from the synergies? Isn't
Renault the only one benefiting?" said the shareholder, who like
other participants couldn't be seen on the video feed supplied by
Nissan.
Mr. Saikawa said Nissan and Renault had rules governing how they
split costs.
Relations between Nissan and Renault, which owns 43.4% of its
Japanese partner, have become more fraught in recent months,
following two moves by Mr. Senard that would have reshaped the
relationship. In April, Mr. Senard approached Mr. Saikawa about a
possible merger between the companies and was swiftly rebuffed. In
May, Mr. Senard threw his weight behind a merger of Renault and
Fiat Chrysler, an idea that was derailed in part because of
Nissan's unwillingness to go along.
Tensions hit the boiling point earlier this month, after Renault
threatened to upend Mr. Saikawa's board changes unless the French
company got its chief executive on Nissan's audit committee.
Nissan yielded on that point, buying peace with Renault at
Tuesday's meeting -- but also criticism from a shareholder who said
Mr. Saikawa was giving Japan a reputation for capitulating to
foreigners.
Mr. Senard's use of a Toyota to get to the meeting didn't help
matters. While some at Nissan bridled, asking whether the Renault
chairman had given thought to appearances, a person close to
Renault said a third party chose the vehicle and Mr. Senard had
nothing to do with it. "He's always riding in Nissans," this person
said.
One shareholder, who gave his family name as Yoshida, accused
Mr. Senard of attempting a hostile takeover of Nissan, spurred on
by the French government, which is a major Renault shareholder.
"Don't you want to make an alliance that is more beneficial for
Renault with the French state at the back? Do you want to merge
with FCA as the French state wants? You are increasing Renault
nominees in the committees and you want to increase the number of
Renault nominees in the board so you can create a merger with
Renault? That's obvious," Mr. Yoshida said.
Mr. Senard, at times repeating himself over shouts from the
crowd, said he wanted the best for Nissan and had no hidden
motives. "There was obviously no aggressive intention," he said of
broaching a Renault-Nissan merger. "The last thing that came in my
mind was to be aggressive towards a company of which I am a
director."
He added that a merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler "would
have been a wonderful project for Nissan."
Nissan's Mr. Saikawa also faced tough questions from
shareholders about his decision to stay on despite the company's
poor financial performance. He was questioned about his inability
to detect the alleged wrongdoing by Mr. Ghosn, which led to the
former chairman's expulsion from the company. Mr. Ghosn, who is
awaiting trial in Tokyo on financial-misconduct charges, says he is
innocent.
Mr. Saikawa said he felt a responsibility to stay on until the
new board found a successor but didn't give a timeline for that
process. He said he thought a turnaround of Nissan's troubled U.S.
operations would take two to three years.
In one concession to Renault, Mr. Saikawa said in his clearest
language yet that he was ready to hear Mr. Senard's pitch to
reshape the 20-year-old alliance.
Renault executives see the installation of Nissan's new board,
approved by shareholders Tuesday, as a step toward the possible
resumption of merger talks with Fiat Chrysler. Mr. Saikawa hinted
he would be open to the idea.
Acknowledging that Nissan's role in blocking merger discussions
had created friction between the parties, Mr. Saikawa said, "It is
critical to create opportunities with Renault to discuss the future
form of our relationship."
People close to Nissan have said the company would be willing to
back a Renault-Fiat Chrysler merger if it involved a significant
reduction in Renault's stake in Nissan.
--Nick Kostov in Paris contributed to this article.
Write to Sean McLain at sean.mclain@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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