Ghosn Knight and Renault's Plight

Carlos, or rather Sir Carlos now, was knighted at the British embassy in Tokyo by Britain's ambassador to Japan, Graham Fry, on behalf of The Queen.

“I'm proud and I'm humbled, and this is an acknowledgement of our 5,600 employees in the U.K.”, Ghosn expressed.

The Nissan Motor Manufacturing unit builds about 20 percent of the total production of cars in Britain , and about 60 percent of Nissan vehicles sold in Europe. Nissan has invested about 2.3 billion pounds, since 1984, to build the biggest car factory, which is located in Sunderland.

Well known for cutting 3 billion Euros in costs during his tenure as Executive Vice President in Renault, he has also been approached to consider a partnership with General Motors.

Renault itself, however, has not been doing so well. In a time span of less than half a year, three employees have committed suicide. The French authorities have begun investigations into the working conditions at Renault's technical design centre. One worker had jumped off from the fifth floor of their main building last October, while the most recent case, which occurred in the employee's home, included a note citing problems at work as the cause of his suicide.

Apparently, recent restructuring moves in the company, as well as declining profits have been the roots of rising pressure on its workforce. French workers' union, CFDT, said that the company should evaluate its working environment, which is probably very stressful. Renault has agreed to look into how it can manage better and prevent more of such deaths.

Credits: Kr0n