Bombshell memos: Nissan coup plotters sought Renault divorce

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1. The two main partners in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance joined together nearly 24 years ago when Renault invested a then-astronomical US$5 billion in the Japanese automaker and sent its top executive to Japan to fix it.

   Today, the two are mere shadows of what they were as recently as 2017 and 2018, ahead of Carlos Ghosn’s ouster. Production, sales, market share, share price and market capitalization are all down sharply while the companies have lost several stars from their management bench.

   How did they get to where they are? And who’s responsible? By now the suspicion is shared by much of the world that the only winners – apart from the firms’ competitors – are the old-guard nationalists, characterized by some as the “old Nissan tribe,” who engineered the November 19, 2018, arrest and downfall of the larger-than-life builder and leader of the alliance.

   That suspicion can now be turned into certitude. We’re publishing here for what we believe is the first time documents tracing back to the 21st floor of Nissan’s headquarters building that prove the head of the CEO office, Hari Nada, and the chief executive officer himself, Hiroto Saikawa, were directing the coup to oust Ghosn – and prove that an outcome they sought from the beginning was to block a merger with Renault.

   (One previously published news story referred to these documents but at that time did not publish the documents. Nissan at the time claimed the documents were forged but did not pursue that argument further. Carlos Ghosn obtained the documents, has them in his possession and authorized sending them to us.)