There is a major change at Renault today with the news that the company’s Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares has left the company “in order to pursue other personal projects”. Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and chief executive officer of Renault, will take over Tavares’s role in the short term.
There have been rumours for some time that Ghosn and Tavares have not been getting on very well and this is a clear indication that Ghosn intends to keep control of the empire in which he has played an important role since joining the company in 1996. The Renault-Nissan alliance began in 1999 and Ghosn was sent to Japan to be the COO of Nissan. He did an impressive job turning the Japanese company around. As a result he was named president and chief executive officer of Renault in 2005, while also acting as CEO of Nissan as well.
It remains to be seen whether the news will have any effect on the company’s sporting activities.
joeblogsf1 
Thank you kindly Joe for pointing me towards Carlos Ghosn – Truly an amazing CEO / COO etc etc wherever he has worked – I enjoyed 30min reading about his practises and his truly Global achievements – Amazing. Thanks
Joe, does it have to do anything with the Inifiniti-Red Bull Racing partnership which has undermined Renault’s presence in F1? I am drawn to the Tavares-Nissan link…
F1 is not that important.
I wonder what impact this decision will have on the Alpine revival (and the Caterham-Renault JV), which seemed to be very much Tavares’ own project.
I wonder if this has been why there has been no progress with that JV and Renault not being announced as Caterham’s F1 engine choice for next year?
It is said he left because of interview where he had claimed he’d be interested to run GM or Ford.
Carlos left because Ghosn refused to give hi. the CEO job (of Renault). In Carlos’ view, Ghosn could have remained Chairman of Renault and CEO of Nissan, while giving him the position he felt he had earned.
The referenced GM/Ford article was a placed shot across the bow.