Heads Must Roll After Renault Spy Scandal: French Government
The French government, which owns a 15% stake in Renault, said on April 11 that those responsible for an embarrassing industrial espionage debacle at the car-maker should be sacked.
"If mistakes have been made, those who are responsible must go if the extent of their mistakes justify it," Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told France Inter radio.
Her comments came as Renault was preparing to hold an extraordinary board meeting to examine an audit committee's report on the scandal that centered on wrongful accusations of spying.
Lagarde said the report showed that the company's management style was "dysfunctional" and revealed the need both for a "revision of the governance rules and for sanctions."
Industry Minister Eric Besson added that it was up to Renault to decide if its chief executive Carlos Ghosn stays in his job but that the carmaker's management style had to change.
Ghosn will present a reorganization project to the board during a meeting on April 11, Besson told LCI news channel. A report in French newspaper Journal Du Dimanche said Renault's chief operating officer Patrick Pelata, legal affairs chief Christian Husson and its human resources and security chiefs may resign after the meeting.
Lagarde said she had instructed state representatives on the board to support the recommendations of the audit report.
The French car giant sacked three managers in January, saying publicly it had proof they had been selling secrets on the electric technology which is expected to change the car industry.
The French government branded the affair "economic warfare" and some pointed the finger at China, drawing an angry denial from Beijing.
But in March the firm apologized to the managers after it emerged police found no trace of bank accounts the accused men were alleged to have held and that the source of the spying allegations may have been a fraudster.
Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan have staked their future on electric vehicles and plan to launch several models by 2014 to meet rapidly rising demand for more environmentally friendly methods of transport. They have invested four billion euros in the program.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
See Also
Renault Apologizes to Managers Wrongly Sacked for Spying
Renault Executive Denies Spy Claims
Renault Says Espionage Threatened 'Strategic Assets'
