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Carlos Ghosn arrested in Tokyo today on suspicion of under-reporting his salary
Nissan said it had been probing possible improper practices of Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly for months based on whistleblower report
Ghosn is well regarded in Japan for having turned Nissan around from near bankruptcy

By Julian Robinson for MailOnline and Ap and Reuters

Published: 04:08 EST, 19 November 2018 | Updated: 06:56 EST, 19 November 2018

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Nissan's chairman is to be fired after the firm said an internal probe found he under-reported his income by millions of pounds and engaged in other 'significant misconduct'.

Brazilian-born Carlos Ghosn, 64, was arrested today after he voluntarily submitted to questioning by Tokyo prosecutors, according to reports in Japan.

The Yokohama-based company, one of the world's largest automakers, said the alleged violations were discovered during an investigation over several months that was instigated by a whistleblower.

Ghosn, who is also chairman of Renault and Mitsubishi, also allegedly engaged in personal use of company assets, it said.

Nissan said it was providing information to the prosecutors and cooperating with their investigation. The allegations also concern a Nissan representative director, Greg Kelly, it said.

Together, the two under-reported their income by a combined five billion yen (£34 million), Japan's Kyodo News service reported.

Carlos Ghosn (pictured), the chairman of Nissan and Renault, has been arrested for alleged misconduct and using company money at the Japanese carmaker for personal use, it has emerged

Nissan's CEO Hiroto Saikawa planned to propose to its board that Ghosn and Kelly both be removed from their posts, the company said in a statement.

'Nissan deeply apologizes for causing great concern to our shareholders and stakeholders. We will continue our work to identify our governance and compliance issues, and to take appropriate measures,' it said.

The Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi group is among the biggest auto alliances in the world, selling about 10 million vehicles a year. Before joining Renault, Ghosn worked for Michelin North America.

Shares in Renault SA of France plunged 14 percent early Monday. The news of Ghosn's troubles broke after Japanese markets had closed for the day.

Nissan said it had been probing possible improper practices of the 64-year-old and Representative Director Greg Kelly for several months based on a whistleblower report

The allegations are a serious blow at a time when Nissan and Mitsubishi Motor Co. are still overcoming scandals over their quality testing reporting.

Ghosn is credited with helping engineer a remarkable turnaround at Nissan over the past two decades, resuscitating the Japanese automaker from near bankruptcy after he was sent in by Renault.

He served as Nissan's chief executive from 2001 until April 2017, becoming chief executive of Renault in 2005, leading the two major automakers simultaneously. In 2016, Ghosn became Mitsubishi Motors' chairman.

For the past two decades, he has maintained an unusually high profile in a nation where foreign chief executives of major Japanese companies are still relatively rare.

Ghosn has appeared on magazine covers dressed in kimono, vowing to renew the Nissan brand.

He was widely praised in Japanese industry circles for delivering sorely needed cost cuts and introducing greater efficiency at a time when Nissan needed a fresh start.

Carlos Ghosn: The cost cutter with a big price tag

In his 40 years in the auto industry, the praise Carlos Ghosn has won for turning around businesses has regularly been matched by criticism over the amount he has been paid to do it.

In the latest furore over his finances, Japan's Nissan Motor Co Ltd said on Monday it planned to oust Ghosn as chairman after alleging he had made personal use of company assets, among other acts of suspected misconduct.

The scandal comes just five months after the 64-year-old head of the Renault-Nissan alliance narrowly won a shareholder vote at Renault over his 7.4 million euro ($8.5 million) pay package for 2017, after losing a 2016 vote.

In his 40 years in the auto industry, the praise Carlos Ghosn (pictured) has won for turning around businesses has regularly been matched by criticism over the amount he has been paid to do it

Brazilian-born, of Lebanese descent and a French citizen, Ghosn began his career in 1978 at tyremaker Michelin, before moving to Renault in 1996, where he oversaw a turnaround at the French automaker that won him the nickname 'Le Cost Killer.'

After Renault sealed an alliance with Nissan in 1999, Ghosn used similar methods to revive the ailing Japanese brand, leading to 'business superstar' status in Japan, blanket media coverage and even a manga comic book on his life.

As auto markets in western Europe and Japan struggled, Ghosn championed a cheap car for the masses in emerging markets and embraced the electric vehicle before many others.

He also never made it a secret that he believed there were too many carmakers in the world and consolidation would continue - in 2016 he added Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp to the alliance.

But in recent months, attention has increasingly turned to how the complex web of cross-shareholdings between the alliance partners might be simplified to ensure it can thrive following the eventual departure of its main architect.

In March, sources close to the matter told Reuters the alliance partners were discussing plans for a closer tie-up in which Nissan would acquire the bulk of the French state's 15 percent stake in Renault.

With Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reporting on Monday that Ghosn had been arrested by Tokyo prosecutors on suspicion of under-reporting his salary, the alliance's plans for the future just got more pressing.