Carmakers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors announced the creation of a joint board Tuesday, as they seek to plot a future for their alliance after the downfall of former boss Carlos Ghosn.
The new board structure will be headed by Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and replaces two previous bodies based in the Netherlands -- one joining Renault and Nissan, the other combining Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
"We have decided to join our forces again, to enhance the strength of our collaboration." Senard told reporters.
This is a "new start" for the alliance, Senard said.
Ghosn, recently released on bail in Japan ahead of a trial over alleged financial misconduct, is widely credited with creating the three-way alliance, which now outsells all other rival groups.
As boss of Renault, he took what many observers at the time thought was a gamble by saving Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy and tying it to the French firm.
In a complicated management structure, Renault -- itself 15-percent held by the French state -- owns a 43-percent stake in Nissan.
However, the Japanese firm has outperformed Renault recently and it is thought that many Nissan executives were unhappy with the French company's dominance within the alliance.
In an interview with AFP in January from inside his Tokyo detention centre, Ghosn himself said his arrest it was a "story of betrayal" based on resentment in the Japanese automaker.
His downfall was plotted due to "opposition and anxiety" over the plan to bring Nissan and Renault closer together, Ghosn alleged.
The 65-year-old tycoon wanted to attend Tuesday's board meeting in Tokyo but was barred by the court.
Although he was almost immediately fired as the head of the company when the allegations surfaced, he is still a board member until April 8, when an extraordinary meeting of shareholders is likely to remove him.
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