PARIS - Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault (IW 1000/80), announced a broad management restructuring Tuesday that permanently leaves vacant the job held by his evicted No. 2.
Last week, deputy head Carlos Tavares was pushed out of the company, which also controls Nissan, after he publicly said he wanted to head a U.S. auto group.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Tavares had said he had little prospect of being able to succeed chief executive Carlos Ghosn as head of the group one day and hinted that he might seek career opportunities elsewhere.
Ghosn, 59, is nearing the end of his mandate with Renault - set to expire next year - but so far there are few signs indicating that he plans to leave the post.
The Tavares interview caught Renault, in which the French state holds a 15% stake, and its management by complete surprise.
Tavares, born in Portugal and educated in France, had spent most of his career at Renault or Nissan and was considered a company loyalist.
In its announcement, Renault said responsibilities held by Tavares would be split across two newly created divisions, one devoted to product and manufacturing and the other to boosting market share.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
