Nissan CEO backs UK production
Carlos Ghosn of Nissan, firmly believed and even backed the brand’s decision to manufacture cars in Sunderland despite the UK not joining the Euro.
Last month it was reported that Takeo Fukui, president of rival brand Honda, said the establishment of its factory in Swindon had been a mistake because of the UK’s failure to join the single currency.
But Ghosn insisted he would continue to fight to keep Nissan’s Sunderland plant open, regardless of the costs arising because of Britain not joining the Euro. He also mentioned that building a plant on foreign exchange rates didn’t make any sense.
Ghosn joined Nissan as its chief operating officer in June 1999. He then became the president by June of 2000 and was named chief executive officer in the following year. His turnaround of Nissan has gained him celebrity status in Japan, where he has published books and even has a manga character based on him. At the time he joined the company, it had debt of $20 billion and only three of its 48 models were generating a profit. Ghosn claimed that Nissan would have no net debt by 2005. Just one year after he joined, Nissan’s net profit climbed to $2.7 billion from a loss of $6.1 billion in the previous year. Nissan’s operating profit margin has increased from 1.38% in FY 2000 to 9.25% in FY 2006.