ghosn

Carlos Ghosn vowed to make Nissan -- which had been losing money for years -- into a profitable, globally competitive company again.

Mr Ghosn would not be drawn on the eventual price of the Bajaj car but pledged that it would be the cheapest car to make.

Mr Ghosn admits that it is hard to overcome the "engineering bias" that is often the enemy of efficient scale in the industry.

Ghosn has repeatedly said he would not consider a deal that would involve spending cash in an uncertain market.

Renault's chief executive Carlos Ghosn said he'd refused an offer by his deputy to resign over the scandal.

Mr Ghosn says it would be "very abnormal if at least one, if not more than one" of the Chinese carmakers did not emerge as a global player.

The three men immediately professed their innocence, but Mr. Ghosn went on national television to say the company had evidence against them.

Ghosn sat down with Fast Company to talk about the Leaf, the imperative to embrace change, and the hope of emerging markets.

Ghosn beat his own schedule for making Nissan profitable, and, following a series of three-year plans, made into a serious contender again.

Mr Ghosn's decision to position Nissan as a frontrunner in electric cars has landed the company much-needed government financing, too.

Like Ghosn, Marchionne set out detailed financial targets for the formerly bankrupt Chrysler and said when he planned to meet them.

At the Tokyo event in 1999, Ghosn was all but alone on the stage, and he answered all the questions from the audience.

Earlier this year Mr Ghosn brought Daimler, a German maker of trucks and luxury cars, into a three-way alliance with Renault and Nissan.

Renault's managers started arriving in March, and its boss, Carlos Ghosn, will be one of three Renault executives on the AvtoVAZ board.

But Mr Ghosn insisted that the Leaf would not be a niche-market vehicle.

Ghosn said the crisis was above all financial and the sector depended a lot on credit.

Indeed, one of Mr Ghosn's priorities was to bring issues into the open to acknowledge Nissan's problems.

At Frankfurt, Mr Ghosn presented what he described as a complete range of affordable purely electric cars.

But Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn said this week he did not see any reason to change the way inventory is held at Chinese plants.

Finally, Mr Ghosn says, you can no longer survive as a "niche player" specialising in small cars or luxury vehicles.

But one of them Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, when asked about hybrids said something very fascinating.

To its credit (and under increasing pressure from legislators), the car industry is heeding Mr Ghosn's call.

Renault's board has "turned a painful page" , Mr Ghosn said in a statement of the announcement of the departures.

A few weeks ago its executive chairman, Bill Ford, hinted at his interest in talking to Mr Ghosn.

But that was the limit for Carlos Ghosn, under pressure as boss of the Renault-Nissan alliance.

Mr Ghosn said exchange rate volatility of any kind was damaging to business, because it militated against long-term strategy.

Mr. Ghosn: The market share of the Big Three, which is shrinking, is going to continue to shrink.

Mr Ghosn introduced cross-functional teams, which bring together people from different divisions to address specific group-wide issues.

'This extraordinary board meeting turns a painful page in the history of Renault, ' Mr. Ghosn said in a statement.

"It's the first step in what is sure to be an exciting journey, " said Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn when the Leaf was previewed this August.

Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault, says the French carmaker is investing nearly all its money in emerging markets currently.

Nissan was advancing rapidly before the quake but Mr Ghosn now admits that it may lose market share this year.

Nissan also continues to improve internal-combustion engines to use in hybrids and diesel-engine vehicles, Mr. Ghosn said.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan, told the Financial Times last week that China had replaced the US as its most profitable market.

"We are creating a technological powerhouse that would benefit all partners, " Renault and Nissan's chief executive Carlos Ghosn said.

Only Carlos Ghosn, he of the two-continent Renault-Nissan alliance, has the wattage and the willpower for global star power.

Mr Ghosn sees electric drive as "a complementary technology" .

But Mr. Ghosn maintains that because electric vehicles emit no exhaust, they are distinct from hybrids and conventional vehicles.

Eventually Mr Ghosn is hoping for a bigger cross-holding than the tiny stakes in each other that Mr Zetsche agreed to.

Yet Mr Ghosn cannot move production eastwards without incurring the wrath of France's powerful unions.

Fernando Alonso's impressive Monaco victory coincided perfectly with Renault company President Carlos Ghosn's first race visit of 2006.

That changed when Brazilian-born Carlos Ghosn, who was raised in Lebanon and educated in France, took the helm.

Carlos Ghosn, a French-Brazilian, has done something similar at Nissan, a Japanese carmaker.

The alliance, Mr Ghosn argues, has also made Nissan more daring and Renault more cosmopolitan.

"That's the biggest point of focus -- the supplier body, " said Carlos Ghosn, head of Nissan Motor Co.

This has forced Mr Ghosn back to his old form.

It is a possibility Mr Wagoner, Mr Ghosn and other investors would be foolish to ignore.

Both Marchionne and Ghosn made it clear where the buck stops.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of the Nissan-Renault group, has already warned customers to expect increases of 2 to 3 per cent.

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has attempted to partner with U. S. automakers in the past (GM and Chrysler) but to no avail.

Mr. Ghosn: It's booming if you go out of Japan, Western Europe and the U.

Mr Ghosn believes that by 2020 purely electric, zero-emission vehicles will take 10% of the global car market.

But Mr Ghosn believes that further scale is needed for three reasons.

That's one way to read comments by Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn in Beijing last week.

Perhaps more important to Mr Ghosn is the apparent vote of confidence from Daimler.

Can the Fiat CEO repeat Carlos Ghosn's miracle revival at Nissan?

The tale of Mr Ghosn is not wholly reassuring.

Mr. Ghosn has forecast that electric vehicles will represent 10% of global automobile sales in 10 years.

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's boss, predicted that pure electric vehicles could make up 10% of the world's market by 2020.

'How long do we need government incentives going to the consumer? ' Mr. Ghosn said.

Mr. Ghosn also said that Nissan should return to operating-profit margins above 8%.

Mr. Ghosn: You have companies already today asking for electric cars. Postal companies.

Mr Ghosn has long believed that knowing how to run an alliance is a big competitive advantage.

(Laughter) And Ghosn came up and said, "I have the car, Mr. Peres, I will build you the cars. "

The one exception is Carlos Ghosn.

'Why is Ghosn's salary so high?

Speaking at last year's Frankfurt Auto Show, Ghosn said: "We won't rely on someone else; we're going to produce (batteries) internally. "

In some ways, Marchionne has it easier than Ghosn.

But that was slower than the 58% growth in the overall market because of Nissan's limited capacity, Mr. Ghosn said.