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Gorn, run away from Japan!

In the past two days, many public accounts, including traditional media, reported a news: the international auto industry leader, the Frenchman Ghosn, ran away from Japan before the new year, and it was very disgraceful: hiding in a cello box, no Clear customs legally and run away secretly.

Many media believe that this is the shame of the Japanese, and that Japan has lost people in front of the world.

A living man, a famous culprit, slipped under his nose, which indeed shows that the Japanese security surveillance system has kept loopholes.

But it’s not that simple.

I paid attention to the Ghosn incident in 2018. Friends who are interested can check out my article “The two countries in the G20: Japan and France fight for this”.

From a higher level, the Japanese have made money.

Because it involves the competition between Japan and France for the huge automobile industry.

Today, I will talk about this issue again.

Ghosn’s Escape Roadmap

1. Give up 1.5 billion and escape in the New Year

Carlos Ghosn, 65 years old, in the world ’s automotive industry, can be said that no one knows, no one knows, he once ruled the world ’s largest car alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance text-remarks “label =” Remarks “> (more than Toyota, Volkswagen, GM) .

This alliance employs more than 470,000 employees in nearly 200 countries and regions around the world, and sells more than 10 million cars a year, more than 1.5 times that of China’s largest automobile group, SAIC.

Ghosn, Brazilian-born Lebanese-born French auto industry leader

But it’s such a car big man, but humiliating.

Since November 2018, he has been arrested by the Japanese prosecutor, and has paid a deposit of 1.5 billion yen before leaving the prison and banning his feet at home.

In the evening of December 30, 2019, it was said that, by his wife’s plan, he hid in a musical instrument box, escaped Japanese surveillance, and ran from Tokyo to Osaka Kansai Airport, and then fled by private jet. To Turkey. As soon as Turkey landed, he dared not stay longer, and hurried into the plane and flew to Lebanon.

Ghosn is 167 cm tall, and it is speculated that he could be hidden in a 180 cm tall box

Because there is no extradition treaty between Lebanon and Japan, after security, Ghosn ’s back is finally hardened, and a statement is issued:

I am in Lebanon, but not to abscond, but to avoid the persecution of Japanese politics and justice.

Japan is in an uproar, and France is shocked.

A big car man, why did you do this, even 1.5 billion yen 2. Ghosn saved Nissan first

Nissan (also known as “Nissan” in Chinese) is the first Japanese company specializing in automobiles, with a history dating back to 1911 (Meiji 44) , almost the same period as Rolls-Royce and General Motors.

During the Second World War, Nissan was an important military vehicle supplier to the Japanese military, such as the famous model Nissan 180.

After the world oil crisis in 1973, consumers around the world began to choose small-displacement cars, and Japanese cars began to enter the European and American markets in large numbers.

Nissan was once the world’s largest car exporter.

Nissan is also building plants in the United States and Britain.

Datsun 240Z was one of Nissan’s most successful models in the 1970s.

But after the glory, Nissan went downhill.

Because Nissan abandoned the Datsun brand in the United States and failed to launch distinctive products, the leading overseas brands of Japanese cars gradually changed from Nissan to Toyota and Honda.

By 1999, Nissan’s performance has fallen for 26 consecutive years, its global market share has fallen from 6.6% in 1991 to less than 5%, and its debt has reached 2.4 trillion yen. (about 23.3 billion U.S. dollars) , close to collapse.

At that time, Nissan’s president, Yi Yi, dragged the sick many times to the United States and Europe in search of a rescuer.

But with huge losses, even Ford and Daimler, who had originally wanted to buy, were frightened.

Finally, Renault of France was willing to resist this mine and bought a 36.8% stake in Nissan for $ 5.4 billion to form the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

At that time, Renault was mainly involved in the negotiations, and Ghosn.

Picture source: “McKinsey Senior Management Concerns · Preparing for the Financial Crisis”

Ghosn was Renault’s second-best player at the time.

Simply say Ghosn. His life is a little complicated to us.

His grandpa, immigrated from Lebanon to Brazil (South America has been a paradise in a turbulent world for a long time) . His father was born in Brazil and his mother is a Lebanese immigrant.

At the age of 6, Ghosn returned to Lebanon with his mother, since Lebanon was once a French colony.

Despite the independence of the country, young people still yearn for the sovereign state.

So, Ghosn went to Paris, and later obtained a degree from the Polytechnic University of Paris, the top engineering university in France. He is fluent in English, French, Latin, and Arabic.

After graduating from university, he spent 18 years at Michelin Tire Company, and has been the president of Michelin North America.

In 1996, he joined French car company Renault as executive vice president.

Ghosn and then Nissan President Yi Yiyi

After the Renault-Nissan alliance was formed, Ghosn was appointed president and chief operating officer of Nissan.

Ghosn interviewed more than 2,000 Nissan employees and visited production workshops, employee cafeterias, distributors …

In the end, he launched the “Nissan Revival Plan”: 21,000 people were laid off in 3 years, 5 factories were closed, the non-automobile manufacturing sector was sold, more than 13,000 parts and materials suppliers were reduced to 600, Purchasing costs, which account for 60% of Nissan’s car costs, have been reduced by 20% …

But Ghosn has increased research and development costs, and technicians have not been laid off.

At the same time, he reforms internal management, breaks the strict Japanese bureaucracy, and improves work efficiency.

Ghosn vowed that he would blame his resignation if the recovery plan was not realized.

As a result, one year later, In 2000, Nissan’s profit reached US $ 2.7 billion, a record high.

It is very difficult to achieve such a result after the collapse of the Japanese bubble economy.

French, saved Nissan.

3. Rescue Mitsubishi

Nissan is under the control of the Japanese.

Ghosn’s rescue of Nissan is almost regarded as a myth of the global automotive industry, and even famous American universities such as Harvard have written it into the MBA case.

He also received courtesy from the Japanese government. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry also awarded him the “Enterprise Reform Management Award”. Many Japanese businessmen also admire Ghosn sincerely, asking everywhere about where Ghosn’s glasses were bought, where hair was cut, and where are suits made …

Driven by Ghosn, in 2011, Nissan purchased 15% of Renault’s shares. At the same time, Renault’s shareholding in Nissan increased to 43.4%.

The Renault-Nissan alliance goes deeper.

In 2005, Ghosn became chairman of Nissan and Renault at the same time, managing two large automobile companies separated by a mile.

Following Nissan, there is also the famous Mitsubishi Motors.

Mitsubishi is also an old Japanese car company, but after the bubble economy burst, it was hit hard. Unlike Toyota and Honda, overseas market expansion was not successful.

Later, Mitsubishi also revealed that it deliberately concealed quality issues. (The brake failure problem has been exposed in China) , Mitsubishi Motors has closed its plants in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Since 2000, Mitsubishi Motors has exposed three scandals including recall concealment, fuel consumption fraud, and tire pressure data fraud, commonly known as Mitsubishi Shame, Mitsubishi Shame, Mitsubishi Shame.

After Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Motors is almost finished. Faced with a large number of claims, consumers no longer dare to buy Mitsubishi vehicles.

2016 Mitsubishi executives admit fuel fraud test fraud

This time it’s Ghosn again. He asked Nissan to spend 237.35 billion yen to buy a 34% stake in Mitsubishi, and obtained a veto on major management decisions.

At this point, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has been formally established, becoming a complete global automotive giant.

And Ghosn has become the most powerful person in the global automotive industry.

Ghosn is the head of the world ’s largest automobile alliance

4. Do the same, but not share the pain:

Japan and France are both born with ghosts

After the alliance was established, because all parties coordinated and cooperated, Nissan’s technology was very good, Renault had a market advantage in Europe, and everyone’s development was smooth and smooth.

According to the introduction, the alliance sold a total of 10.76 million cars in 2018. For every 9 vehicles sold worldwide, 1 of them comes from the alliance, and the alliance has 122 factories worldwide.

Allied car brands

But there is an old saying in China: We can share our troubles, we cannot share our wealth.

This fits well in this huge league.

After a short period of sweetness, France and Japan began to share different dreams.

Let ’s take a closer look at the alliance pattern:

In 1999, Renault purchased a 36.8% stake in Nissan and established the Renault-Nissan Alliance;


In 2011, Nissan bought a 15% stake in Renault, and Renault ’s holding in Nissan increased to 43.4%; / p>


In 2016, Nissan spent US $ 2.29 billion to acquire a 34% stake in Mitsubishi;


In 2017, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance was officially established.

Shareholding relationship between alliances

Although Ghosn has a life-saving grace, the Japanese are not satisfied with the alliance.

Although it was said to be an alliance and not a merger, Renault now owns 44% of Nissan and has voting rights.

Nissan only owns 15% of Renault’s shares and has no voting rights.

So in the league, Renault is more like a big brother, but in terms of business, Nissan is stronger.

The following is the sales data of major brands in the alliance from 2011 to 2018. It can be seen that Nissan sales are 45% higher than Renault.

Source: Wikipedia, of which AvtoVAZ is the largest Russian automaker Volvo, jointly controlled by Renault and Nissan.Elgar

According to statistics, from 1999 to 2018, Nissan paid a total of more than 600 billion yen to Renault, and the Nissan profit included in the consolidated accounts of Renault-Nissan Alliance was more than 2.5 trillion yen.

In recent years, more than 50% of Renault’s profits have been contributed by Nissan.

So, instead of making a Renault well, it’s better to say that it invested well a decade ago.

Together with Mitsubishi, the Japanese are unsatisfied with maintaining this substantial inequality.

But the French not only want to make money, they also want to completely annex Nissan.

In February 2018, when Ghosn was hired as the CEO of Renault, he received a French directive: prepare decisive measures to cut off the dissolution of ( Nissan) The Alliance’s back road.

5. Behind is the industry dispute between the French and Japanese governments

It was the French government that gave Ghosn instructions.

In fact, Ghosn’s escape was just a small corner of a bigger round.

It is the Japanese and French governments that are playing against each other, and they are fighting for the leading power of the 100 billion auto industry.

Japan Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) owns the shares of Nissan and Mitsubishi.

The French government owns 15% of Renault and is the largest shareholder of Renault.

Also, we know that for Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, etc.Giant enterprises have inherent ability.

As the major shareholder of Renault, the French government has been thinking about annexing Nissan.

The current French President, Macron, is particularly enthusiastic.

In 2015, when Macron was the French Minister of Economy, he insisted on increasing Renault’s shareholding from 15% to 19.7%, so he had double the voting rights. This is equivalent to the French government having a stronger influence directly on Renault and indirectly on Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Nissan stopped working at once, demanding that its Renault shareholding be increased to 25% or more. As a result, Renault lost its right to vote on Nissan.

The two parties have a big fight.

Finally, the Japanese government came forward to negotiate directly, and the French government reduced its shareholding in Renault from 19.7% to 15% before it was safe.

Reuters reported on the dispute a few years ago

But Macron isn’t dead.

In 2018, Ghosn, 64, continued to be hired as CEO of Renault. To know this age, most French people have enjoyed their old age.

The reason why Ghosn is still being reused is said to be the task: to promote the merger of Nissan.

There are even rumors that Macron has held meetings with Ghosn many times, demanding that Nissan be turned into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renault, and then move its production base to France.

Macron also promised to make Ghosn the Minister of Economy once that happened.

So, just after the CEO’s tenure was in place for more than a month, Ghosn started to push for the merger of Renault and Nissan.

Everyone with a good eye knows that in the current situation, it is Renault and Nissan.And, it is better to say that Renault annexed Nissan.

Ghosn accompanied Macron to inspect the automobile factory

The one who comes is not good, the one who is good does not come.

This time, Japan is a killer, and he just grabbed Ghosn.

On the afternoon of November 19, 2018, Ghosn hurriedly and landed at Tokyo Haneda Airport.

But as soon as he landed, he was arrested by the special search department of the Tokyo local prosecutor’s office.

In search, prosecutors even rarely used the “judicial exchange” clause to encourage Nissan employees to provide information about Ghosn’s crimes.

The Japanese side quickly listed several major charges of Ghosn: allegedly underreported $ 88 million in compensation, misappropriating Nissan funds to buy luxury homes in Japan and other places, and investing 1.7 billion yen in losses during the 2008 financial crisis. , Let Nissan pay …

Three days later, Nissan’s interim board deprived Ghosn of his chairmanship.

Ghosn is locked in a 19-square-meter cell in Tokyo.

At the G20 summit in 2018, Macron specially met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance issue.

Finally, this year, Ghosn paid two bail bonds totaling 1.5 billion yen before leaving the cell and returning to his Tokyo home.

But he can’t go abroad, and all three passports are turned in.

Actually, Kyodo News has received news because it learned that Ghosn will promote the merger of the two companies as soon as possible in 2018. Nissan stepped up cooperation with the Japanese prosecutors to promote internal investigations against Ghosn’s wrongdoing.

Ghosn also keeps calling for injustice.”It is said that after consulting with (Japan) , the Ministry of Finance, the answer obtained is no need to record.”

Real big bosses don’t care much about the fate of small puppets.

Speaking of which, I am afraid everyone understands.

The automotive industry has high technological content, a long industrial chain, and more employment. Therefore, it has always been a key area of ​​concern for countries around the world.

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance crisis that lasted more than a year is, after all, Japan and France’s struggle for the dominance of the automotive industry.

But we should never just look at the excitement: how can key and core industries be more effectively held in our hands?

This is worth thinking about.

A few words about Ghosn.

In fact, Ghosn is just a small pawn in the big game between the Japanese and French auto industries. It is not so important anymore.

I am afraid that Macron’s annexation of Nissan will be broken because of Japan’s thunder over Ghosn.

So, from this perspective, Japan has achieved its purpose, and it is not a shame or national shame.

The brain hole is a bit bigger, and with bold guess, Ghosn is probably Japan’s intention to let go.

After all, for a guy with a high global influence like Ghosn, it is a hot potato in his hands. In addition, Ghosn did indeed benefit the Japanese auto industry and rescued two auto giants.

This guess is not completely unfounded.

One week before Ghosn’s flight, Xinyou Suzuki, Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister, visited Lebanon. Lebanese President Orne is said to have proposed in person that Ghosn be tried in Lebanon.

After a week, Ghosn ran away.

Today, Ghosn’s weary bird is home. The wish of Nissan annexed by France is likely to fall through. In Japan, Nissan is firmly in control.

The truth is far more complicated and thrilling than the story.

The article is from the WeChat public account: Zhengjie Bureau (ID: zhengjieclub)