One of Nissan Motor’s top executives has resigned, further rattling the Japanese automaker’s management group as it expands an investigation into ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn’s supposed financial misconduct.
Jose Munoz, widely considered as a close ally to Ghosn and a potential successor to lead the automaking partnership between the automaker and Renault SA, had been a “person of interest” in Nissan’s broadening internal investigation.
The 53-year-old, who was Nissan’s chief performance officer and headed its China operations, made the declaration in a LinkedIn post on Friday. In a statement, Nissan stated that Munoz had “elected to resign” from the company, effective immediately. It refused to provide information.
He becomes the recent executive casualty since Nissan in November ousted Ghosn as chairman and removed representative director Greg Kelly.
Reuters had reported previously on Friday that the Japanese automaker was taking a look into decisions made in the United States by Munoz who headed Nissan’s North American operations from 2016 to 2018.
“Unfortunately, Nissan is presently involved in matters that have and will continue to divert its focus,” Munoz stated in his post.
“As I have repeatedly and recently made clear to the company, I look forward to continuing to help Nissan in its investigations.”
