Nissan CEO allegedly put spy cams in Indian-origin COO's home: Reports

The unceremonious exit of Indian-origin COO of Nissan continues to be followed up with murkier details of what may have gone wrong within the Japanese car maker. After Ashwani Gupta stepped down from his role, it has now emerged that Nissan CEO Makota Uchida may have had spy cams installed in his home for surveillance purposes.

Reuters reports that a third-party American law firm suspects cameras were installed in Gupta's residence so that Nissan's security team could monitor him. It is further reported that a few employees of the company have confirmed this.

It is highlighted that the alleged installation of spy cams at Gupta's residence could have been done so that Uchida has a leverage over him at a time when there have been differences between the two over the fate of Nissan-Renault alliance. It is believed that while Gupta was circumspect on a re-balancing of the partnership, Uchida was keen to speed up processes. The re-balancing itself saw efforts from Renault to license hundreds of jointly developed patented technologies to other players.

Uchida and Gupta had led Nissan back to profitability in the 2021-22 fiscal year after a period of struggle. The long-standing partnership with Renault, however, has been anything but smooth. While the Japanese car brand is bigger of the two, it is Renault that has a 43 per cent stake in Nissan. Nisan, in turn, has a 15 per cent stake in the French company and with no voting rights.

Previously, Renault had dispatched Carlos Ghosn to spearhead operations at Nissan but he would eventually be ousted over allegations of financial irregularities, a charge he refutes and has filed a defamation suit. He, however, remains a wanted individual in Japan.