Nissan And Renault Celebrate their 10 Year Anniversary - Birthday Party

Back in the late 1990s, Nissan found itself in quite a predicament. It was suffering from declining sales, burdened by a bloated product catalogue and all but crippled by the Asian economic crisis.

Sound familiar? It should, give or take some details, Nissan was in a similar bind to that faced by America’s major automakers today.

Thankfully Nissan managed to survive its troubles thanks in large part to the intervention of Renault, who on March 27 1999, struck a crucial alliance with the Japanese manufacturer and installed Carlos Ghosn as Chief Operating Officer of the ailing company.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Ghosn initiated a fat-cutting campaign, trimming Nissan’s line-up of unnecessary models, laying off thousands of workers and shutting down several plants, thus earning the France-based Ghosn the nickname “Le Cost-Cutter” in the process.


Read More inside The Motor Report