Nissan to Widen Ghosn Probe

Nissan Motor Co. is preparing to widen its investigation into financial wrongdoing by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn to include the company’s alliance with Renault SA and its subsidiaries.

Sources tell Automotive News the investigation is especially interested in Renault-Nissan BV, the Amsterdam-based, 50:50 venture that controls the 19-year-old Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance.

AN says Nissan cannot conduct a thorough investigation of the venture without Renault’s cooperation. Nissan provided the French carmakers with details about its Ghosn investigation on Tuesday, but there was no immediate response.

Ghosn remains as chairman of Renault and the alliance. But he was stripped of his chairmanships at Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors shortly after being arrested in Japan on Nov. 19. Renault also has appointed Chief Operating Officer Thierry Bollore to handle Ghosn’s CEO duties.

Nissan, along with prosecutors in Japan, also are ramping up probes that could eventually involve as many as a dozen other Nissan affiliates in the Netherlands, according to AN. One of its sources notes that additional charges could emerge.