Nissan Motor Co. President Hiroto Saikawa, in a briefing session held Monday, asked company employees for their understanding over Carlos Ghosn’s dismissal from the chairman post and apologized for unease caused among customers and employees.
The briefing, which targeted all of the automaker’s employees, was held at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama in light of Ghosn’s Nov. 19 arrest on suspicion of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law. Saikawa delivered the briefing to about 140,000 employees via a connection of the headquarters and other offices in Japan and abroad through the internet.
The president explained the developments that led to Ghosn’s dismissal, and also asked for the employees’ understanding of the automaker’s policy on how to deal with the incident, such as establishing a fact-finding committee comprised of outside directors and others.
“We had a hard time finding an opportunity to speak to our employees,” Saikawa said to reporters ahead of the briefing session. “We in management of course have a responsibility about what happened, as well as what we need to change from now on."