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PARIS – Renault Group Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, who was brought in to stabilize the company after the arrest of Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn in November 2018, will be appointed for another term, the automaker said.
Senard was tapped that year by the French government, a major Renault shareholder, to replace Ghosn, who was detained in Japan after the arrest on charges of understating compensation at alliance partner Nissan.
Senard, now 69, was the CEO of Michelin at the time, although he had planned to step down in 2019 when his contract expired.
Read more: Renault’s Senard, the ‘Anti-Ghosn,’ is a stabilizing force
He was formally named chairman in January 2019. Senard reportedly has a good rapport with Renault’s Alliance partner Nissan, and in the months after Ghosn’s arrest repeatedly flew back and forth to Japan to reassure Nissan executives of Renault’s commitment to the partnership.
Senard took the lead in ultimately unsuccessful negotiations with Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles for a combination that unraveled at the last minute.
In the last six months he has been heavily involved in negotiations to rebalance the alliance. Renault holds 43 percent of Nissan, a majority shareholding it acquired in 1999, while Nissan, a far larger company, has 15 percent of Renault and no voting rights on the Renault board.
Talks were expected to conclude this autumn but recent reports suggest a deal will not occur until after the new year.
Renault’s board will approve Senard’s new term when it meets in May, the company said Thursday.
It will also approve the appointment of CEO Luca de Meo to the board, and renew the term of Annette Winkler, a former Daimler executive who had lead the Smart brand until 2018.