Ghosn declined offer to take wheel at GM

According to draft copies of an upcoming book about the U.S. government bailout of GM and Chrysler, Ghosn declined the offer because the Frenchman wanted to focus on rebuilding Renault and Nissan, which were then suffering from serious sales slumps amid the worldwide economic crisis.

Ghosn was invited to succeed Rick Wagoner, who was dismissed as GM CEO in March last year.

Titled “Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry,” the book is authored by Steven Rattner, a former auto adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama who engineered the government's US$85-billion bailout of GM and Chrysler. Rattner ended his six-month stint inside the White House when he left the team in July 2009 after Chrysler and GM avoided bankruptcy.

Rattner wrote that Ghosn refused to accept the offer because he “felt considerable loyalty to both companies (Nissan and Renault) and wanted to see them through the crisis.”

In 2006, GM and the Nissan-Renault alliance were once in talks for a possible partnership, but Wagoner turned down a chance to have GM join the alliance.

In one intriguing dialogue that appears in the book, Obama asked in a meeting about GM's and Chrysler's predicament: “Why can't they make a Corolla?” One of his advisers replied, “We wish we knew.”

The book goes on sale in mid-October.

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