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Carlos Ghosn resigns as Renault chairman and CEO

Carlos Ghosn resigns as Renault chairman and CEO

Renault has appointed two executives to fill his roles.

Locked in a Japanese jail cell for over two months, Carlos Ghosn has voluntarily resigned from the roles of chairman and CEO of Paris-based Renault. He was voted out of the top role at Nissan and Mitsubishi shortly after his arrest in November 2018.

Renault's top executives refused to push Ghosn out until the Japanese legal system convicted him of the crimes they claim he has committed. Ghosn didn't resign earlier because he didn't predict he would spend this long in jail; he nearly posted bail before Christmas but his request was denied after prosecutors added new charges to his case. He was denied bail twice in January 2019, even after he offered to turn in his passports.

French newspaper Le Figaro reports Ghosn will remain in jail until mid-March, and prosecutors could extend his stay until his trial. "Carlos Ghosn doesn't want to be an obstacle for Renault, or for the Alliance," an internal source told Le Figaro.

Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard will replace Ghosn as chairman, while Thierry Bollore will take over as CEO. Bollore has already been filling in for Ghosn on an interim basis since his arrest. As Bloomberg points out, both men will need to repair ties with Nissan and strengthen the alliance, which reached the weakest point in its history in the wake of Ghosn's arrest.

Nissan hasn't commented on Ghosn's resignation.