Sarkozy versus Ghosn, public dispute? "Renault C'est Qui?"

Nicolas Sarkozy and Carlos Ghosn

Carlos Ghosn most admired, still, is the target of the Palace.

When Carlos Ghosn was "summoned" at the Élysée palace by France

president Nicolas Sarkozy, I immediately remembered what the

Chief of Renault and Nissan told me about politicians and

advisers.

In my first interview with the Mr Ghosn published in Valmonde

group media "Carlos Ghosn The French Samurai", in July 2001, I

asked Mister Ghosn's views on politician Junichiro Koizumi, the then

flamboyant prime minister of Japan (who ruled 2 mandates with top

level of popularity). Clear enough is what Carlos Ghosn then

stated about how he views his role and the role of politicians.

Quotes:

"... each time he (prime minister Koizumi) intervened in the field

of economy, he mentioned Nissan and he did it in a constructive

and positive manner. I trust his modernizer spirit, but you

know, me, I am an industrialist, bottom line: the intentions

account for 5% of the work, and 95% is in the application of the

project and the demonstration by the facts"...

end of quotes.

Quite a puzzling debate, and seen from a Tokyo perspective it is

interesting to follow how Paris, or the EU rules tend to modify

the way companies are or want to be ruled and how it confronts

administrative policies. Something to ponder when in 10, 20

years, some say later, Asia would build a formula of loose

economical integration.

It did not make Japanese comfortable. Nothing here is made

without the decisions of a dozen of very powerful industrialists,

and without accepting the effects, Sarkozy or his staff

undermined Carlos Ghosn work in Tokyo, where-else...?

Media comments, also quite impressive was the title of the Wall

Street Op-Ed:

"Renault, C'est Moi" For French President Sarkozy the subversion

of EU free market rules is French business as usual.

Quotes.

Carlos Ghosn might be one of the world's most admired CEOs, but

last weekend Nicolas Sarkozy summoned the Nissan-Renault

executive to the Elysée Palace to show him who's the real boss.

The reason for the French President's ire? Renault plans to move

a production site overseas just when Mr. Sarkozy is facing

regional elections. France still holds 15% of Renault and lent

the company €3 billion during last year's financial crisis. And

so when news broke that the car maker might produce its next Clio

model in Turkey, Nicolas Sarkozy saw his chance to play patriot

games. "We are not giving all that money to support the auto

sector so that all our factories can leave," Mr. Sarkozy told

lawmakers last week. "I strongly contest the idea that these big

companies, just because they are global, no longer have a

nationality."

Mr. Ghosn got the message. "Renault is a French company, a

socially responsible citizen," he said after the meeting at the

palace. He promised that some of the production of the

subcompact car will stay in France, which corresponds with the

government's dictates. "When a French car is destined for the

French market, it has to be made in France," Industry Minister

Christian Estrosi told parliament last week. This nonchalant

subversion of the European Union's free market principles and

state-aid rules has so far triggered only a muted response from

the European Commission. With even Britain now exhibiting a

weakness for French-style mercantilism (see Peter Mandelson's

meddling in the Cadbury takeover battle) it's probably not

surprising that Mr. Sarkozy has returned to French business as

usual. French consumers, and Renault itself, will be the ones

who ultimately pay the price.

and In the Irish Times:

"... The French government on Sunday tried to save face vis a

vis Carlos Ghosn in its dispute with Renault, insisting it had

secured a promise from the car maker that units of its future

Clio small car destined for the domestic market would be made in

France. Ministers have leant heavily on Renault since it emerged

earlier this week that it was considering centring production of

the Clio 4, to be launched in 2013, at its lower-cost factory in

Bursa, Turkey, rather than in France. Paris had insisted that a

majority of Clio 4s were assembled in France, either at Renault’s

Flins site, near Paris, or at another factory. President Nicolas

Sarkozy raised the pressure by summoning Carlos Ghosn, Renault

chief executive, to the Élysée Palace on Saturday. But Sarkozy

received only a pledge that part of future Clio production would

be in France. Claude Guéant, Sarkozy’s chief of staff, insisted

on Sunday that the government – which has a 15 per cent stake in

the company – had got everything it asked for."

End of quotes