They got up, one by one, at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting, demanding that
Ghosn, a superstar executive who had led
New Chief Executive
He said a turnaround plan will be announced in May, which one shareholder immediately criticized as too late.
“We are in a disastrous situation,” Uchida said of the Ghosn scandal. “It was shocking, and I denounce it.”
Uchida is among the four directors whose election was up for vote at the meeting held at a conference center in
Uchida was tapped in December to replace
Saikawa tendered his resignation last year after allegations surfaced about his own dubious personal income. Saikawa’s resignation becomes final at the end of the shareholders’ meeting.
One shareholder asked if Saikawa was giving up his retirement pay.
Another asked why
Saikawa did not reply. Senard apologized and said it was a mistake that had upset him as well.
Global sales of
Also up for approval at the meeting was the appointment of
The appointment of Nissan’s production expert
But hanging over the entire meeting was Nissan’s plummeting fortunes, its reputation tarnished over not only the Ghosn scandal but the shaky way it was handled at the company.
Shareholders said they saw confusion in management.
One argued no one would want to buy a car from a company that looked as disorganized as
Another shareholder proposed putting a bounty on Ghosn’s head so he could be brought back from
Ghosn, who has insisted on his innocence, has said he was targeted with trumped up charges because of what he called a conspiracy at
“Profitability outlook is negative from worsening operating leverage, heavy discounting trends from heightened competition, and rising R&D cost as a percentage of revenue,” said Bahari.
Uchida repeatedly tried to assure shareholders the company was standing up to wrongdoing, leveraging the
“I am confident we can achieve all this,” he said.
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