Report: Nissan Doesn’t Want to Share Its Chairman with Renault

Nissan Motor Co. won’t support Renault SA’s suggestion that its new chairman also serve as chairman of the Japanese carmaker, a source tells Bloomberg News.

The French government, which owns 15% of Renault, suggested the idea last month after Carlos Ghosn, who had chaired both companies, was arrested in Japan on charges of financial wrongdoing.

Ghosn, who also was chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and the entity that manages the alliance among all three companies, has since been stripped of all four titles. Renault has named retiring Michelin CEO Jean-Dominique Senard as its new chairman.

Renault owns 43% of Nissan and is entitled to name Nissan’s chairman, CEO or chief operating officer, Bloomberg notes. Nissan did say this week that it will appoint Senard to its board of directors in April.

But Bloomberg’s source says Nissan, fearing a conflict of interest in allowing Senard to chair both companies, wants to wait on any appointment decision until its own board completes a governance oversight review.