Nissan Motor Co. said it had filed a civil lawsuit in Japan against its ousted former boss Carlos Ghosn, seeking 10-billion yen in damages over his alleged misconduct. The Globe and Mail put the claim at US$91-million. The news emerged on February 12, 2020, the same day three company sources said Nissan could be heading for its first quarterly loss in more than a decade.
The suit puts a figure on a long dispute. Nissan said it expected the claim to “increase in future,” because it expects to pay fines to regulators over Ghosn’s alleged misconduct and wants to recover them. Prosecutors say that misconduct includes understating his annual salary and misusing company funds. Ghosn, who dramatically fled house arrest in Japan at the end of December and is now in Lebanon, denies any wrongdoing.
Nissan also said it may take separate legal action over what it called “groundless and defamatory” remarks Ghosn made at a news conference in Beirut the month before, where he described a Nissan conspiracy to push him from power.
A spokesman for Ghosn hit back. He accused Nissan of “trying to create a diversion ahead of its worst results since 2009” and called the lawsuit part of a “character assassination” campaign.
Results Due Thursday
Three senior Nissan sources said they expected poor numbers on Thursday, and one called them “dismal.” Two said an operating loss was possible, which would be the first quarterly loss since the period ending in March, 2009. Nissan said it could not comment on results ahead of the official announcement.
A survey of three analysts by SmartEstimate pointed to an operating profit of 48.6-billion yen for the quarter ending in December, less than half the 103-billion yen of a year earlier. Those forecasts predated the December sales figures released on January 30, which Reuters calculations showed to be the biggest quarterly slump of Nissan’s current two-year sales downturn.
One of the officials also said Nissan might cut its full-year profit forecast of 150-billion yen, which would be an 11-year low. The company set that figure in November, after dropping an initial forecast of 230-billion yen.
Global sales have fallen 8.3 per cent since April as Nissan struggles to sell its Rogue SUV crossover and Sentra sedan. In the first nine months of the fiscal year it sold 3.81 million vehicles, and it risks missing its full-year target of 5.24 million, a decline of 5 per cent, partly because of production disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak.
The carmaker’s alliance with France’s Groupe Renault has been in disarray since Ghosn’s arrest in November, 2018, and Nissan is cutting jobs, production sites and product offerings to save cash.
