Renault chief: No. 2 left because his eye wandered

[September 11, 2013]  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Renault's chief executive Carlos Ghosn says his No. 2 decided to step down after telling a reporter that he had his eye on the top job at General Motors Co. or Ford Motor Co.

In an interview last month, chief operating officer Carlos Tavares told Bloomberg that he doubted he'd ever become head of Renault because Ghosn is still relatively young. He said he would like to be chief executive somewhere, and he thought his best chance was at a U.S. automaker.

Renault announced two weeks later that Tavares was stepping down to pursue "personal projects." But on Tuesday at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Ghosn said he thought Tavares would still be in his job if he hadn't made those comments. He said both he and Tavares made the decision.

[Associated Press]

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