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The auto alliance is facing the biggest test of its 19-year
existence after the ousting of Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> Chairman
Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested last week for suspected financial
misconduct.
Tokyo authorities on Friday approved the maximum 10-day
extension of Ghosn's detention, Japanese media said. Prosecutors
have to file charges against Ghosn, 64, by Dec. 10 or arrest him
on suspicion of fresh crimes to keep him in custody.
Tokyo prosecutors declined to comment. Nissan did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ghosn's detention in Tokyo has left the Franco-Japanese auto
alliance without a leader and an advocate for the French
government, which has a 15 percent stake in Renault and has said
it wants to retain the current capital structure for the
alliance.
Renault <RENA.PA> controls Nissan through its 43 percent stake,
while Nissan holds a non-voting 15 percent stake in its partner.
BUENOS AIRES MEETING
An official in the French presidency said Macron would discuss
the alliance with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at midday in Buenos
Aires, but gave no further details.
Meeting in Paris last week, Japanese Industry Minister Hiroshige
Seko and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed the
two countries' support for the alliance.
A few days later, however, Le Maire said on French television
that he and Seko agreed that keeping the alliance's current
capital structure was desirable - an agreement the Japanese
minister denied making.
The Mainichi Shimbun daily reported on Friday that Seko had sent
a rare letter of protest to Le Maire for the remarks.
Officials at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
said they could not immediately comment on the reported letter.
A French finance ministry official said Le Maire's office had no
comment.
Ghosn's arrest, including for allegedly under-reporting his
income, has triggered new attempts by Nissan to shake off what
it considers Renault's outsized control of it, adding to
problems at Macron's Elysee.
As economy minister, Macron had masterminded the French
government's surprise increase of its Renault stake in 2015,
raising alarm bells inside Nissan that the Elysee was out to
wield more influence over the Japanese company.
The auto alliance, which also includes Japan's Mitsubishi Motors
Corp <7211.T>, for its part "emphatically reiterated" its
commitment to the partnership on Thursday after executives met
in Amsterdam for the first time since Ghosn's arrest.
A review of the capital structure was not discussed at the
meeting, Mitsubishi Motors' CEO Osamu Masuko said.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Chris Gallagher and Linda Sieg and
Elaine Lies in TOKYO and Michel Rose and Laurence Frost in
PARIS; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman and Keith Weir)
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