日產汽車董事長卡洛斯·戈恩涉嫌違反金融法在東京被捕后將被免去職位，汽車業最大的全球聯盟也因此深陷動蕩。

日產首席執行官西川廣人在日本橫濱告訴記者，周一戈恩因涉嫌違反日本金融法在東京被拘留。他還表示，戈恩是一位很偉大的人，曾拯救日產于水火之中，與雷諾公司和三菱汽車結成聯盟。戈恩和總監格雷格·凱利在日產內部已接受數月調查，董事會決定在周四的會議上免去二人職位。

日產表示，戈恩和凱利向東京證券監管機構報告的薪酬金額均低于實際數目，此舉是為了降低戈恩的披露薪酬。戈恩方面，“還發現許多嚴重的違規行為，比如挪用公司資產，凱利參與其中也已證實?！比债a在聲明中稱。

西川廣人表示，暫無法透露涉嫌不法行為的更多細節。他說，之所以出現違規行為，是因為權力過于集中在一人身上，而由于日產結構不夠透明所以沒能發覺。據共同社報道，戈恩涉嫌在五年里隱瞞收入50億日元（4400萬美元）。

如果說有人堪比達沃斯，非卡洛斯·戈恩莫屬

面臨嚴重指控，汽車業最有權勢的高管戈恩可能就此黯然下臺，他曾帶領日產和雷諾挑戰大眾和豐田等業內巨頭。此前根據三方簽訂協議構建的聯盟在64歲的戈恩穩定領導之下不斷深化，該事件之后未來發展存疑。雖然戈恩不再擔任日產首席執行官，但就任董事長后為永久聯盟奠定了基礎，即便離開也依然穩固，也存在合并的可能性。

“投資者應該放心。摩根大通的分析師何塞·M·阿蘇門迪在研究報告中稱，因為戈恩是合作的關鍵因素。與日產合作“對雷諾未來的戰略至關重要?！?/p>

不過，消息傳出后歐洲股市震蕩，雷諾股價在巴黎市場跌幅達15%，而日產的全球存托憑證下跌超過11%。

嚴峻的挑戰

日產危機的出現恰逢汽車產業格局的結構性變化。

業界向電動和自動駕駛汽車轉變的趨勢迫使傳統汽車制造商投資數十億美元研發新車型，而像Uber和特斯拉這樣的新競爭對手則在不斷地蠶食其市場。戈恩將成為第二位在見證汽車行業轉型完成之前出人意料地從人們視野中消失的汽車產業大拿。領導菲亞特東山再起并促成公司與克萊斯勒合并的塞爾吉奧·馬爾基翁內于今年7月逝世，而他的繼任者是54歲的Jeep前任首席執行官邁克·曼立。

為什么戈恩離開的時機尤為糟糕？

日產表示，公司一直在向日本檢方提供信息，并將全力配合調查。朝日新聞早些時候曾報道，戈恩自愿被檢方帶走。東京檢方辦公室代表稱，他們不會對個案發表評論，而且雷諾的發言人也拒絕置評。

根據日本法律，檢方必須提出正式起訴之后才能移交法院庭審。因此，戈恩的逮捕并不意味著他會被判有罪。人們并不清楚他現在在哪，以及整個法律流程需要耗費多長的時間。

戈恩在9月稱，他將繼續削減自己在三家汽車制造商的內部職務，并繼續擔任該聯盟（由他親自促成）的領導者。

多年來，戈恩是日本和法國薪酬最高的高管之一，但其薪酬也經常是人們批評的對象。戈恩因其多重職務而拿到了數份薪酬，這些職務包括雷諾-日產-三菱聯盟的主席、雷諾首席執行官以及日產和三菱的董事長。

在日產，他2016年的薪酬達到了約11億日元（約合1000萬美元），在最近的財年拿到了約650萬美元，而他近期從雷諾和三菱分別拿到了約850萬美元和200萬美元的薪水。在雷諾，他在同意減薪20%之后，其薪酬方案才勉強獲得了股東的通過。

法國財政部發言人拒絕對這一新聞置評。法國持有雷諾約15%的股份，而且支持戈恩在這家法國汽車制造公司繼續留任。

隨著三家公司開始尋求改變聯盟協定構架，戈恩一直在思考自己今后的職業道路。戈恩去年放棄了他作為日產首席執行官職務，而且表示可能在2022年自己四年任期到期之前辭去雷諾首席執行官一職。外界據此猜測這位聯盟構建師以及過去20年以來的主要領導者將離開聯盟。

彭博新聞在7月稱，這些汽車制造商給自己留出了兩年的時間，來決定是否進行合并，或尋找其他的替代機制來加強合作關系。戈恩在9月指出，這些公司將在其擔任雷諾首席執行官的前半個任期之內“搞定所有事情”。

這位法籍巴西人在1996-1999年擔任雷諾執行副總裁期間幫助雷諾東山再起。他隨后受命重振日產公司。期間，他削減了日產的購買成本，關閉了5家工廠，裁員2.1萬人，并在隨后的三年中將節省的成本投資生產了22款轎車和卡車。

在這一事件發生之前，日本汽車行業已經出現了一系列危機，其諸多丑聞涉及產品質量和生產記錄造假等。去年，日產成為了輿論的焦點，當時，日本監管方發現審核車輛的檢查員并未獲得相關認證。日產因此而召回了120多萬輛轎車。（財富中文網）

譯者：夏林

Nissan Motor Co. will remove Carlos Ghosn as chairman after he was arrested in Tokyo for violations of financial law, throwing the auto industry’s largest global alliance into turmoil.

Ghosn, a towering figure who saved Nissan from collapse and brought it together with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., was detained Monday in Tokyo over the suspected breach of Japanese financial laws, Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa told reporters in Yokohama, Japan. Ghosn and Director Greg Kelly have been under investigation at Nissan for several months, and the board is set to meet Thursday to remove them both.

Both Ghosn and Kelly were reporting compensation to securities regulators in Tokyo that was less than the actual amount, Nissan said, adding that they did this to reduce Ghosn’s disclosed compensation. Regarding Ghosn, “numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered — such as personal use of company assets — and Kelly’s deep involvement has also been confirmed,” the carmaker said in a statement.

Saikawa said the company can’t disclose further details of the suspected wrongdoing. Too much power being concentrated to one individual allowed for the misconduct, and Nissan failed to detect it because its structure wasn’t transparent enough, he said. Ghosn is suspected of understating his income by 5 billion yen ($44 million) over five years, Kyodo reported.

If Davos Were a Person, It Would Be Carlos Ghosn

The bombshell allegations threaten to bring down one of the auto industry’s most powerful executives, who turned Nissan and Renault into a challenger to giants Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. They also cast doubt over the future of the alliance, a three-way pact that has sought to go deeper under the steady hand of Ghosn, 64. While no longer Nissan’s CEO, he’s been laying the groundwork as chairman to make the alliance permanent after his departure — including the possibility of a merger.

“Investors need to be reassured,” as Ghosn is a key driver of the collaboration, Jose M. Asumendi, an analyst with JPMorgan, said in a research note. Cooperation with Nissan “is critical to Renault’s strategy going forward.”

The news rattled the European equity market, with shares of Renault falling as much as 15 percent in Paris, while Nissan’s global depository receipts sank more than 11 percent.

Big Challenges

The crisis at Nissan is taking place amid a tectonic shift in the auto landscape.

The move toward electric and self-driving cars has forced traditional automakers to invest billions, while new competitors like Uber Technologies Inc. and Tesla Inc. invade their turf. Ghosn would be the second major auto-industry figure to leave unexpectedly before seeing through the transition. Sergio Marchionne, who led Fiat back from the brink and engineered its merger with Chrysler, died in July, leaving 54-year-old former Jeep chief Mike Manley at the helm.

Why Ghosn’s departure would come at a particularly bad time.

Nissan said it has been providing information to Japanese prosecutors and is cooperating fully with their investigation. Ghosn went voluntarily with prosecutors, the Asahi newspaper reported earlier. A representative for the Tokyo prosecutors’ office said they don’t comment on individual cases and a spokesman for Renault also declined to comment.

Under Japanese law, prosecutors need to make official charges before a case can be brought to court. So Ghosn’s arrest doesn’t mean he’ll be found guilty. It’s unclear where he is now and how long the legal process will take.

Ghosn said in September that he will continue to pare back his role at the three automakers he brought together, while continuing to head their alliance.

Among the best paid executives in both Japan and France for several years, Ghosn’s compensation has regularly drawn criticism. Ghosn receives numerous paychecks in his multiple roles as chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, CEO of Renault, and chairman of both Nissan and Mitsubishi.

At Nissan, he was paid about 1.1 billion yen ($10 million) for 2016 and about $6.5 million in the most recent fiscal year. He took home about $8.5 million at Renault and about $2 million from Mitsubishi in the latest period. At Renault, his package for 2017 was narrowly passed by Renault shareholders, but only after he agreed a 20 percent reduction.

A spokesman for France’s finance ministry declined to comment on the news. The country owns about 15 percent of Renault and supported Ghosn’s renewal at the helm of the French automaker.

Ghosn has been contemplating his next career step as the companies look to change the pact’s structure, possibly through a merger. Ghosn gave up his role as CEO of Nissan last year and has said that he may step down as CEO of Renault before his four-year term ends in 2022, fueling speculation the alliance could lose its architect and main leader for the past two decades.

The carmakers have given themselves two years to decide on a possible merger between them or find an alternative mechanism to enhance their partnership, Bloomberg News reported in July. Ghosn said in September that the companies will “clarify everything” within the first half of his current term as Renault CEO.

A Brazilian-born French national, Ghosn revived Renault as executive vice president from 1996 to 1999. He then was assigned to turn around Nissan, where he reduced the company’s purchasing costs, shut five factories, eliminated 21,000 jobs and invested the savings back into 22 car and truck models in three years.

The latest developments add to a string of crises in the Japanese auto industry, from scandals involving product quality to falsification of records. Nissan found itself in the midst of a controversy last year, when Japan’s regulators discovered uncertified inspectors were approving vehicles, leading to a recall of more than 1.2 million cars.