TOKYO, Sept. 6, 2019–This time there won’t be any room for maneuvering for an alternative: Nissan Motor Co. has to die a sudden death or be fully acquired by French automaker Renault.
Nissan president and CEO Hiroto Saikawa admitted at a Sept. 5 news conference that he had been overpaid by tens of millions of yen in 2013 in stock options called the stock appreciation rights plan, saying the program ws different to how it should have been.’
Saikawa denied instructing the company the payment to him. ‘The procedures were handled properly and I did not know about the misconduct. He said he will repay the sum to the company and insisted that the program was created by former CEO Carlos Ghosn.
Over the past year since he took over the Nissan president and CEO position from Ghosn from being Ghosn’s top aide since 2017, Saikawa has been at the center of an array of gossips and rumors about Ghosn’s downfall and his management policy, which clearly has been the reason for Nissan’s shrinking car sales worldwide.
In July, Nissan’s worldwide sales fell 5.2 percent, and year-to-date, sales were down 11.1 percent. Other Japanese automakers reported year-on-year rises in July and to date. Nissan’s stock price has been on a steady slide and around 670 yen.
Nissan had planned a domestic 250 billion yen straight bond launch this month, the largest single domestic bond issuance by the company, but it is set to be shelved until the management structure stabilizes and sales recover. A Nissan spokesperson confirmed the shelving. The 4-tranche issue coupons were above comparable bond market average, meaning that underwriters were uncertain about the bond’s distribition at market interest rates. Nissan last sold bonds in October 2018 via Nissan Financial Service.
Inside the company, people already are looking for Saikawa’s successor in response to an uproar of criticisms of him from investors and Nissan car owners, a Nissan affiliate employee said.
–Toshio Aritake