On April 22, France issued an arrest for Carlos Ghosn
, the fugitive and former top-dog at Nissan
, Renault, and Mitsubishi. Ghosn’s first major run-in with the law happened in 2018, when Japanese authorities accused him of financial misconduct and detained him for nearly five months. A daring escape from the country left him in his homeland of Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Could these new charges from France be the means to putting Ghosn away? Jerry
the car ownership super app
looked into the details to find out. The life of Carlos Ghosn: from jet-setter to jailbird
For a good two decades, Carlos Ghosn’s could be tracked on an upwards slant. The success of the alliance he orchestrated between Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi in 1999 earned the job of manning Nissan’s wheel in 2001.
In about a year, he turned the Japanese automaker around, and under his leadership, Nissan became one of the most profitable car companies in the world. But his boldness proved to be both a strength and a weakness.
Bloomberg
says that In November 2018, Japanese police
arrested Ghosn on suspicion of defrauding Nissan of $140 million. He was kept in prison for five months. When he finally made bail, the conditions of his release included a travel ban that forced him to stay in Japan. Instead of following those terms, Ghosn had two Americans smuggle him out of the country in a box. He reached Lebanon, where he’s lived in hiding ever since.
New allegations from France and what they mean to Nissan’s ex-CEO
French authorities started looking into Ghosn’s dealings in 2020, after he escaped from Japan. They issued the international arrest warrant for Ghosn after suspect payments were discovered to be flowing from Renault
to a dealership in Oman. According to Reuters
, prosecutors allege that Ghosn worked with the dealership to funnel millions of dollars from Renault for his own personal use. Ghosn maintains his innocence and says he will cooperate with French authorities, but he remains in Lebanon, a country with a policy of not extraditing its citizens.
Ghosn also holds a French passport, which might make matters more complicated than it was with the Japanese government. But so far, no effort has been made by Lebanon to hand Ghosn over.
How has Nissan coped since the Ghosn controversy?
The scandal surrounding Ghosn did a number on Nissan’s name, but it apparently wasn’t the only problem the company faced.
Ravinder Passi, a former top lawyer for the automaker, blew the whistle to Bloomberg, saying that the company has a reputation for surveilling and intimidating their staff.
And while the alliance Ghosn built between Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi remains intact, Nissan’s profitability once again hangs in the balance.
As for Nissan’s cars, reviews are underwhelming, with Car and Driver
ratings for 2022 models fluctuating between 8 and 4.5 out of 10. Car insurance
prices for Nissans don’t impress either. At nearly $1,900 a year, average coverage for Nissans is about $250 more than the national average. If you want to save on coverage, go to Jerry
. A licensed broker that offers end-to-end support, the Jerry app gathers affordable quotes, helps you switch plans, and can even help you cancel your old policy. The average Jerry user saves over $800 a year on car insurance. 
4.7
