DAVOS, Switzerland — Renault's board was meeting on Thursday to appoint new leadership, after Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn resigned in the wake of a financial scandal that has rocked the French carmaker and its alliance with Japan's Nissan.
The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, confirmed the board was being asked to name outgoing Michelin boss Jean-Dominique Senard as chairman and Ghosn's deputy Thierry Bollore as chief executive.
The widely expected appointments may begin to resolve a Renault-Nissan leadership crisis that erupted after Ghosn's Nov. 19 arrest in Japan and swift dismissal as Nissan chairman.
He has been detained for more than two months but denies accusations that he under-reported income and falsified financial reports.
They also mark a clear end to one of the auto industry's most feted careers, two decades after Ghosn was despatched by former Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer to rescue newly acquired Nissan from near-bankruptcy - a feat he pulled off in two years.
After 14 years as Renault CEO and a decade as chairman, Ghosn formally resigned from both roles on the eve of the board meeting, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
Ghosn's arrest and indictment for financial misconduct has strained the Renault-Nissan relationship, threatening the future of the industrial partnership he transformed into a global carmaking giant over two decades.
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For two months, the tensions deepened as Renault and the French government stuck by Ghosn despite the revelation he had arranged to be paid tens of millions of dollars in additional income, unbeknownst to shareholders.
Ghosn has been charged with failing to disclose more than $80 million in additional compensation for 2010-18 that he had agreed to be paid later. Nissan director Greg Kelly and the Japanese company itself have also been indicted.
Both men deny the deferred pay was illegal or required disclosure, while not contesting the agreements' existence. Ghosn has denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008.
Ghosn finally agreed in recent days to step down from Renault, Reuters reported on Tuesday - but only after the French government called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts.