In an official press conference held this morning, Renault announced its financial results for 2021. The French company returned to profitability last year and also announced several new all-electric vehicles for the next three years. It seems that the automaker is running like a well-oiled machine, but its former CEO Carlos Ghosn sees things very differently. He recently gave an interview to Le Parisien where he continued his language of strong criticism about the current operations of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Renault currently holds a 43-percent stake in Renault, while the Japanese firm holds 15 percent of the French company. Ghosn had always been vocal for closer ties between the two automakers, but Nissan executives had remained conservative about potential deeper connections. The 67-years old Brazilian-born Lebanese businessman said in the recent interview Renault is now just a shadow of its past.
"The truth is, the world No.1 manufacturer has become a small and fragile manufacturer," Ghosn told Le Parisien, brought to our attention by Automotive News. "It saddens me to see that Renault is only a shadow of its former self." He also said recent comments from Renault’s management that the automaker’s troubles come from "race for volumes" were "indecent. They could have come up with something a little more subtle," Ghosn added.
Ghosn was also very critical of Renault’s current CEO, Luca de Meo, who bets on a strategy of "value over volume." He emphasized that he is not particularly happy with the way the brand’s strategy is developing with time, as “strategy is only 5 percent, while action and results are 95 percent."
As a result of his escape from Japan to Lebanon, Ghosn lost a considerable amount of money, he told the publication. "Compared to the vast majority of the Lebanese people, I have nothing to complain about. However, I have lost a very large part of what I had saved."
