With Carlos Ghosn in the rearview mirror, Nissan looks forward in fast-changing automobile world

Carlos Ghosn's ouster as chairman of Nissan Motor Co. signals that the automaker is seeking to reshape itself to better deal with a rapidly changing market environment, breaking from nearly two decades under his charismatic leadership style, according to some analysts. Chasing volume and sharing costs were a large part of Ghosn's business strategy for one of the world's most successful auto partnerships -- the alliance between Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. -- led by the Brazil-born executive. Nissan officials say they intend to maintain the alliance due to its benefits, even as the company's board on Thursday approved the dismissal of Ghosn as chairman following his arrest for alleged financial misconduct. Ghosn, sent in by Renault in 1999, closed plants, cut thousands of jobs and streamlined its supply chain to pull the automaker back from the brink of bankruptcy. He set lofty numerical targets to propel growth at Nissan, and as a result, the Japanese-French alliance he forged in pursuit of greater economies of scale grew into one of the world's biggest auto groups.