We’re introducing sophisticated functions to empower the driver, who can decide when to drive and when not to. And if he or she decides not to drive, we’ll have the technology to ensure that it’s in a safe and low-stress environment where the driver can be doing something else.
Why Carlos Ghosn Isn’t Worried About Tesla
“Making the Car a Mobile, Connected Workspace”: An Interview with Carlos Ghosn
by Adi Ignatius
Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2016/10/making-the-car-a-mobile-connected-workspace
rlos Ghosn has made a career out of handling crises. In the 1990s the celebrated car executive essentially saved first Renault and then Nissan, and for the past 11 years he’s served as CEO of both. A Brazilian-born Lebanese-Frenchman—the very embodiment of globalization—he somehow manages to be a hands-on executive on two continents.
He is also among the most recognizable figures in the industry. By restructuring Renault and restoring it to profitability, he earned the nickname “Le Cost Killer.” For his success in overhauling Nissan, which formed an alliance with Renault in 1999, Ghosn won the sobriquet “Mr. Fix-It.” And he is famously portrayed as a superhero in a Japanese comic-book series.
But technology can humble even the most successful executives, and Ghosn these days is focused on trying to remain an innovator. Dramatic advances—electric cars, vehicles that operate with significant autonomy, fully self-driving cars—threaten to shake up the industry. Upstarts like Tesla and even Google are now in the automotive business. The transformation is sure to crown new market leaders and ding some incumbents. “We expect major disruptions in technology,” says Ghosn, “which will change the product mix.”
The challenge seems to have energized the 62-year-old leader. He has invested billions in electric-vehicle development at both Renault and Nissan. He took a big gamble with the Nissan Leaf back in 2010. But although the Leaf is the industry’s top-selling all-electric car, with more than 200,000 units on the road, its overall sales are at least four years behind initial expectations. The problem, Ghosn says, isn’t with the product but with the slow development of the supporting infrastructure. But it’s a problem nonetheless.
And so Ghosn is scrambling to find ways to maintain his track record: tapping into synergies within the alliance, cutting costs, being the public cheerleader for his companies. In May he concluded another big deal, as Nissan invested $2.2 billion for a controlling 34% stake in troubled Mitsubishi Motors. The now-triple alliance presents Ghosn with further opportunities for cost savings—through shared work in engineering, production, and other areas.
It’s a complex managerial challenge, and investors have wondered aloud if anyone other than Ghosn could handle it. Renault and Nissan’s combined worldwide car sales last year totaled 8.5 million units. Add in the 1 million that Mitsubishi sold, and Ghosn’s companies are approaching sales of 10 million cars a year—making the alliance the world’s fourth-largest carmaker, after Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors.
Ghosn took a break from it all recently in New York City to talk with HBR’s editor in chief, Adi Ignatius, about the future of the auto industry.
HBR: A lot of the innovation in cars these days is coming from Google and others in Silicon Valley. Is that worrisome for the auto industry?
Ghosn: I’m not worried. Sure, it’s interesting to talk about Apple or Google making cars. But we have a long tradition of taking technology from the outside and putting it into our products. Automakers are architects. We assemble parts. We assemble technologies. We assemble know-how—all to make a product and bring it to the consumer. Our big challenge is, How do you put new technologies into a car while continuing to deliver on classic expectations?
Do you fear the rise of new manufacturers?
If a tech company wants to become a car manufacturer, it will buy an existing automaker and transform it according to its own criteria. But I don’t think that’s what tech firms are looking to do. The fact that new players are developing technologies to help make cars more attractive is good for us, because we never want to become a “commodity.” We want the car to continue to be a high-tech, exciting product that people desire. Today that comes from design, driving performance, and the quality of the materials. Going forward, we want to add more connectivity, along with more autonomous-driving functions.
What’s your vision for autonomous drive?
We’re introducing sophisticated functions to empower the driver, who can decide when to drive and when not to. And if he or she decides not to drive, we’ll have the technology to ensure that it’s in a safe and low-stress environment where the driver can be doing something else.
Carlos Ghosn, PDG de Renault, pourrait toucher une plus-value de 6 millions d’euros
Le dirigeant a acquis plus de 130 000 actions Renault à un cours prédéfini, au titre de sa rémunération variable.
http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2016/12/27/carlos-ghosn-pdg-de-renault-pourrait-toucher-une-plus-value-de-6-millions-d-euros_5054544_3234.html
Le PDG de Renault, Carlos Ghosn, a exercé des options d’achat d’actions, ou stock-options, attribuées au titre de sa rémunération variable, qui pourraient lui permettre d’empocher plus de six millions d’euros de plus-value, selon un document consulté mardi 27 décembre par l’AFP.
Dans une déclaration à l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), publiée par ce « gendarme de la Bourse », le dirigeant indique avoir acquis, le 16 décembre, 132 720 actions de sa société au prix unitaire contractuel de 37,43 euros. Or, le cours de l’action Renault Paris était, mardi après-midi, de 85,34 euros, soit une plus-value potentielle de 6,36 millions d’euros pour M. Ghosn, s’il revendait ces titres à ce prix.
Une rémunération qui fait des vagues
Ce développement, révélé par l’économiste Benoît Boussemart et le magazine Capital, et sur lequel Renault n’a pas souhaité faire de commentaire mardi, intervient à l’issue d’une année pendant laquelle la rémunération de M. Ghosn a provoqué des remous. Le 29 avril, les détenteurs de titres du groupe automobile français, dont l’Etat qui jouit de 20 % des droits de vote, ont en effet rejeté en assemblée générale une résolution à valeur consultative portant sur la rémunération de M. Ghosn pour 2015, soit 7,251 millions d’euros au total dont 1,737 million en numéraire.
Les critiques du salaire de M. Ghosn avaient noté que celui-ci touchait également d’importants émoluments en tant que PDG du constructeur japonais Nissan. Cette somme a atteint 9 millions d’euros au titre de l’exercice décalé 2015-2016. Après avoir dans un premier temps maintenu la rémunération de M. Ghosn, le conseil d’administration de Renault avait voulu apaiser les actionnaires fin juillet en annonçant une réduction de 20 % de la part variable du salaire du PDG pour 2016.
Renault avait souligné que la part fixe de ce salaire, à 1,23 million d’euros, était inchangée depuis 2011. Le paiement de la part variable, qui dépend des résultats du groupe, « reste effectué à hauteur de 25 % en numéraire et 75 % en actions, acquises à l’expiration d’une période de trois ans sous condition de présence », selon la même source. M. Ghosn a pris à la mi-décembre la tête du conseil d’administration d’un troisième constructeur, Mitsubishi, dont Nissan a acquis 34 %.