Carlos Ghosn to be detained for 10 days as Renault appoints temporary chairman and CEO

Chief operating officer Thierry Bollore will step up to the top job on a temporary basis as Japanese police question boss accused of misconduct

Mr Ghosn has been held in Spartan conditions at a Tokyo detention facility since he was taken into custody on 19 November (AFP/Getty)

Renault has appointed an interim chief executive to take over from Carlos Ghosn who is to be detained for up to 10 days by Japanese police over allegations of "significant misconduct".

The French carmaker's chief operating officer Thierry Bollore will step up to the top job on a temporary basis but Mr Ghosn will remain as chairman and chief executive.

Mr Ghosn, who is also chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi, was arrested on Monday after after Nissan alleged that he had underreported his income by $34.5m over five years.

The Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday that authorities had been granted extra time to question the executive.

Nissan also accused its chairman of misusing company funds, reportedly to buy four houses in Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Beirut and Amsterdam.

The company said that another Nissan board member, Greg Kelly, was also involved in the alleged misconduct.

Mr Ghosn is expected to be formally sacked as chairman at a board meeting on Thursday. Mitsubishi’s board is due to meet next week to discuss Mr Ghosn’s future.

The scandal put the future of the Renault-Mitsubishi-Nissan alliance in jeopardy and has delivered a blow to the share prices of all three companies.

A months-long internal investigation into Mr Ghosn’s conduct came as he was reportedly negotiating a merger between Nissan and Renault which had angered some of the Japanese firm’s board members.

The two companies already own shares in each other but the deal would have made the alliance irreversible, against the wishes of some senior Nissan figures, who had been looking for ways to scupper it, the Financial Times reported.

Mr Ghosn’s alleged misconduct is said to have taken place between 2010 and 2015 and, if proven, could result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years for the chief executive.

France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire said Renault should remove Mr Ghosn from his position, but added that French authorities have examined Mr Ghosn’s tax affairs in the country and found no wrongdoing.

The revelations threaten the future of one of the most prominent chief executives in the world who had been hailed as a saviour of both Nissan and Renault.

Mr Ghosn has worked at Nissan since 1999, when he became chief operating officer after Renault acquired a 43.6 per cent stake. He served as chief executive officer from 2001 until 2017.

He earned the nickname “Le Cost Killer” at Renault due to his ruthless management strategy.