Nissan confirms top executive Gupta leaving company

Top Nissan executive Ashwani Gupta is leaving the company, the Japanese automaker confirmed Friday, a day after reports of a leadership clash inside the company.

The departure will revive concerns about the stability of Nissan's leadership, which was left in disarray after former chief Carlos Ghosn was arrested over financial wrongdoing in 2018.

Nissan said chief operating officer Gupta had "elected to leave the company to pursue other opportunities effective June 27", without detailing the reasons for his departure.

A new executive line-up will be announced on the same date, the firm added.

The announcement came a day after a source told AFP that 52-year-old Gupta was leaving, citing in part a "rivalry" between the Indian national and Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida.

"He had a very clear ambition to take the top job. He wasn't forced out, but he had understood" that it wouldn't be possible, the source said.

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The Financial Times first reported Gupta's surprise departure on Thursday, saying Uchida and Gupta had clashed, with the latter seen as sometimes overstepping his role and undermining the company's chief.

The newspaper also said Gupta faced "multiple internal complaints", though it did not detail their contents.

On Thursday, Nissan declined to comment on reports of Gupta's departure, saying only: "Independent third parties have been retained to verify facts, and carry on appropriate actions."

Earlier this year, Nissan and Renault signed a deal to reboot their rocky 24-year relationship, following months of painstaking negotiations and repeated delays.

Under the agreement, Renault will slash its stake in Nissan, which will in turn take a stake of up to 15 percent in Renault's new electric vehicle venture Ampere.

The Financial Times said Renault executives had long viewed Gupta as "one of the biggest obstacles in negotiations between the alliance partners" because he consistently rejected the French company's demands.

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Nissan has struggled to find its feet again after being rocked by Ghosn's arrest, which prompted internal investigations that saw the company's CEO also step aside.

Ghosn fled Japan while on bail and is now an international fugitive in Lebanon. He denies any wrongdoing and says he fled because he did not believe he would get a fair trial.

Source: AFP