Nissan Is Dying, Taking Globalization With It

IN RETROSPECT, YOU can put a date on the moment globalization peaked: January 24, 2018.

- David Fickling Bloomberg

In the rarefied winter air of Davos, Switzerland, Carlos Ghosn — then boss of the sprawling alliance of Nissan Motor, Renault, and Mitsubishi Motors — was asked what he thought of a tentative initial round of tariffs on washing machines and solar panels imposed by President Donald Trump.

Flush with the confidence of delivering sales results confirming the alliance was the world's biggest car group by volume, and with his eye on a unification of the business under a single corporate roof, he seemed untroubled. "I don't see anything that is going to lead to a heavy significant burst of protectionism," he told Bloomberg Television.

The tectonic plates were already shifting. Within weeks, Nissan insiders had started the internal investigations that would lead to his arrest later that year and dramatic escape from Japan in 2019. The fractured group has since spent the best part of a decade trying and failing to finalize the separation of its French and Japanese limbs. With Nissan's announcement of a ¥670.9 billion ($4.5 billion) loss on Wednesday alongside a promise to close seven of its 17 factories, one of the world's great carmakers may be approaching its endgame.