Nissan to Pick Ghosn's Successor in Dec.

Tokyo, Nov. 23 (Jiji Press)--Nissan Motor Co.'s \ board of directors is set to choose a successor to Carols Ghosn next month after he was removed as the Japanese automaker's chairman Thursday following his arrest in Japan for allegedly underreporting his income. The successor is expected to be selected from among current board members, excluding outside directors, and Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan's president and chief executive officer, is considered one of the leading candidates, informed sources said. The post of Nissan chairman is considered a crucial post that could determine the fate of the three-way alliance between Nissan, French automaker Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. <7211> of Japan, after Ghosn was dismissed as Nissan chairman. A committee of outside directors is set to nominate the next chairman to the full board. The new chairman "will be picked from among current board members engaged in executing operations," a senior Nissan official said. Ghosn and Nissan board director Greg Kelly were arrested by Japanese prosecutors on Monday on suspicion of understating the former chairman's pay for five years by some 5 billion yen in Nissan's financial statements. Nissan's board met for about four hours on Thursday and voted unanimously to dismiss Ghosn as the company's chairman. It spent most of the meeting being briefed on details of the misconduct by Ghosn and Kelly that were uncovered by the company's in-house investigation, sources familiar with the discussions said. Two board members from Renault, who attended the meeting via teleconference, were initially skeptical of Nissan's intention as European media reports have said Ghosn and Kelly were victims of a coup by Nissan. But they finally said they "agree on" Ghosn's removal as chairman after hearing the outcome of the investigation from Saikawa, the sources said. The board also reaffirmed the importance of the Nissan-Renault alliance. It is expected to review Nissan's governance and executive compensation, informed sources said. END