Carlos Ghosn is to give up the chief executive role at Nissan (www.nissan-global.com/EN/index.html) that he has held for 16 years.

Hiroto Saikawa, who was appointed co-chief executive in November, will become the Japanese car maker’s CEO in April, while Mr Ghosn will remain chairman of Nissan, chief executive of Renault and chairman of Mitsubishi.

Nissan says that the move will enable Mr Ghosn to “focus on trying to catapult the three-company alliance into the top league of global car makers”.

Mr Ghosn told reporters that he is interested in the possibility of adding more car makers to the alliance. “You can see pressures for consolidation everywhere. We really want to make sure that this alliance continues to extend the scale and the synergies possible, not only between the three companies, but eventually with other companies.”

Automotive analyst Takaki Nakanishi said: “Mr Ghosn built up the Renault-Nissan alliance, but the next step is to foster a robust automotive group that can reign over the global industry on a sustainable basis. That will still take time.”

He added that Renault wields effective control over Nissan through its 43% stake, and that “the Japanese car maker is concerned at the prospect of Paris increasing its influence inside the alliance”.

The French government is Renault’s largest shareholder. Nissan has a 15% stake in Renault but no voting rights,
even though the Japanese car maker has outgrown its French partner in terms of vehicle sales since they established their alliance in 1999.