What do you think?
Rate this book
Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars That Upended an Auto Empire
In Japan it's called the "Ghosn Shock" - the stunning arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the jet-setting CEO who saved Nissan and made it part of a global automotive empire.
Even more shocking was his daring escape from Japan, packed into a box and put on a private jet to Lebanon after months spent in a Japanese detention center, subsisting on rice gruel.
This is the saga of what led to the Ghosn Shock and what was left in its wake. Ghosn spent two decades building a colossal partnership between Nissan and Renault that looked like a new model for a global business, but the alliance's shiny image fronted an unsteady, tense operation. Culture clashes, infighting among executives and engineers, dueling corporate traditions, and government maneuvering constantly threatened the venture.
Journalists Hans Greimel and William Sposato have followed the story up close, with access to key players, including Ghosn himself. Veteran Tokyo-based reporters, they have witnessed the end of Japan's bubble economy and attempts at opening Japan Inc. to the world. They've seen the fraying of keiretsu, Japan's traditional skein of business relationships, and covered numerous corporate scandals, of which the Ghosn Shock and Ghosn's subsequent escape stand above all.
Expertly reported, 'COLLISION COURSE' explores the complex suspicions around what and who was really responsible for Ghosn's ouster and why one of the top executives in the world would risk everything to escape the country. It explains how economics, history, national interests, cultural politics, and hubris collided, crumpling the legacy of arguably the most important foreign businessman ever to set foot in Japan.
This gripping, unforgettable narrative, full of fascinating characters, serves as part cautionary tale, part object lesson, and part forewarning of the increasing complexity of doing global business in a nationalistic world.
Even more shocking was his daring escape from Japan, packed into a box and put on a private jet to Lebanon after months spent in a Japanese detention center, subsisting on rice gruel.
This is the saga of what led to the Ghosn Shock and what was left in its wake. Ghosn spent two decades building a colossal partnership between Nissan and Renault that looked like a new model for a global business, but the alliance's shiny image fronted an unsteady, tense operation. Culture clashes, infighting among executives and engineers, dueling corporate traditions, and government maneuvering constantly threatened the venture.
Journalists Hans Greimel and William Sposato have followed the story up close, with access to key players, including Ghosn himself. Veteran Tokyo-based reporters, they have witnessed the end of Japan's bubble economy and attempts at opening Japan Inc. to the world. They've seen the fraying of keiretsu, Japan's traditional skein of business relationships, and covered numerous corporate scandals, of which the Ghosn Shock and Ghosn's subsequent escape stand above all.
Expertly reported, 'COLLISION COURSE' explores the complex suspicions around what and who was really responsible for Ghosn's ouster and why one of the top executives in the world would risk everything to escape the country. It explains how economics, history, national interests, cultural politics, and hubris collided, crumpling the legacy of arguably the most important foreign businessman ever to set foot in Japan.
This gripping, unforgettable narrative, full of fascinating characters, serves as part cautionary tale, part object lesson, and part forewarning of the increasing complexity of doing global business in a nationalistic world.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 22, 2021
49 people are currently reading
1277 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 7, 2021
Really enjoyed and learned from this book, a good read. Not just the core Ghosn Nissan and Alliance rags to riches and back to almost rags, it explains the cultural side, without which proper judgements are hard to make.
Although this story is still unfolding, the authors present various balanced views of a very controversial man, who is no doubt a hero for saving Nissan, building huge Alliance synergies and success, but then undoubtedly guilty as charged with the US SEC, having to repay “oversights” and jumping huge bail and continued as Japan’s most wanted criminal.
What a hero, or corporate fall guy and terrible example for society, Japanese kids. Nissan (name means Japan Industry) and Japan’s justice system is on trial too, and as the book explains, probably a mix of various truths here, not hero or villain only, both. Very good read for Japan, automotive and cultural historical changing era.
Although this story is still unfolding, the authors present various balanced views of a very controversial man, who is no doubt a hero for saving Nissan, building huge Alliance synergies and success, but then undoubtedly guilty as charged with the US SEC, having to repay “oversights” and jumping huge bail and continued as Japan’s most wanted criminal.
What a hero, or corporate fall guy and terrible example for society, Japanese kids. Nissan (name means Japan Industry) and Japan’s justice system is on trial too, and as the book explains, probably a mix of various truths here, not hero or villain only, both. Very good read for Japan, automotive and cultural historical changing era.
July 22, 2021
This is a terrible book. Although entitled ‘Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars That Upended an Auto Empire’ the book is full of many tangential topics - not just the real underlying story of Carlos Ghosn that may have drawn the reader to this book. Navigating this book felt like swimming in a pool of jelly with an arm tied behind one’s back. The book is arranged as discussions around various news and historical topics and contains a huge amount of repetition that just adds to the frustration of trying to read this book. The Economist in reviewing this book said it “reads like a spy thriller”. You have to wonder what they were smoking. Avoid.
August 14, 2021
If you don't have an understanding of the Japanese culture and how their judicial system works Collision Course gives you a good overview. The authors explain how the alliance between Nissan and Renault came about, the backstabbing that took place by Ghosn's underlings and how Ghosn was spirited out of the country in a box. Why any foreigner would want to lead a company in Japan after reading Collision Course just baffles me.
September 1, 2021
The saga of Carlos Ghosn has garnered international headlines. Over the course of a single day in November 2018, Ghosn went from jet-setting auto executive to inmate at a Japanese detention center. Prior to his arrest, Ghosn was one of the most admired and respected business executives in the world. Courted by both GM and Ford during the financial crisis, he was seen as the would-be savior of the American auto industry. Ghosn declined those opportunities to remain at the head of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, one of the largest auto alliances in the world. His arrest was a remarkable fall-from-grace story that transfixed the general public in France and Japan and followers of the business press around the world.
The story became even more scintillating in December 2019 when Ghosn boldly escaped from Japan by stowing away in an audio equipment box on a private plane. It was all so dramatic that many journalists have commented on the story's potential as a Hollywood movie. However, I suspect Hollywood would have a problem portraying the character of Carlos Ghosn. Is he a victim or a villain? A hero or an antihero? Did he escape injustice or flee justice? Those, and many others, are the questions that Hans Greimel and William Sposato tackle in Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars That Upended an Auto Empire.
Under the tutelage of long-time Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer, Ghosn emerged as the head of the Renault-Nissan “Alliance” in 1999. Nissan, a Japanese corporate icon, was on the verge of collapse. Years of mismanagement and a Japanese cultural philosophy that favored lifetime employment over sound business decisions and profits had left the company bloated and nearly insolvent. Ghosn took an iconoclastic approach to the company and insisted on massive layoffs and other Western-style management decisions that, while it violated every Japanese management taboo, saved the company. By 2002, Nissan was profitable and selling cars at a record pace. Accomplishing such a turnaround in such a short period of time elevated Ghosn to the status of national hero in Japan.
In fact, Ghosn’s revival of Nissan was so remarkable that it was soon contributing the lion’s share of sales volume and profitability to the Renault-Nissan Alliance. This created a great deal of tension with both Nissan management and the Japanese government because Renault has a controlling interest in Nissan. While businesses operate as private entities in Japan just as they do in the U.S. and most Western countries, the Japanese government takes a much more hands-on approach to their best known corporations, especially their iconic car companies. The idea of one of their best-known companies being controlled by a French conglomerate and, by extension, the French government even as Nissan was driving both sales volume and profit for the combined entities was a source of frustration for Nissan corporate executives and Japanese government officials.
As the CEO for both companies, it was Ghosn’s job to manage the tension between the two companies and the two governments, but palace intrigue was inevitable and never ending. Tensions erupted over the French government’s meddling into the business operations of Nissan by, for example, pulling production of a popular Nissan model from India, where the vehicle was sold and marketed, to an economically depressed region of France. These maneuvers served the interest of France much more than the interest of Nissan shareholders, but they also dealt a serious blow to the pride and morale of Nissan’s executives and the government officials who felt it was their duty to protect a national treasure.
However, perhaps a bigger problem for Ghosn was that he yearned for the type of pay that was typical in places like the U.S. while working for companies located in two countries that placed a high priority on egalitarian pay: France and Japan. Executives in both countries are expected to settle for pay that is a fraction of the pay received by U.S. executives. However, in Japan, as in the U.S., companies are free to pay their executives whatever they wish so long as the pay and benefits are disclosed to shareholders. Initially, this wasn’t a problem for Ghosn because the disclosure rules only required disclosure of total executive pay, but a rule change several years ago required the company to disclose the individual pay for each executive.
How Ghosn and Nissan dealt with this disclosure requirement is the crux of the case against Ghosn and the reason he wound up in a Japanese detention center facing criminal charges. According to Japanese prosecutors, Ghosn deliberately hid millions of dollars in deferred compensation as a means of circumventing disclosure requirements. According to Ghosn and his attorneys, Nissan used the Japanese criminal justice system to remove him as head of Nissan because they feared he would attempt to force the company into an irreversible merger with Renault.
The answer to this question is complicated, and, spoiler alert, the authors do not offer a definitive answer. This isn’t a shortcoming of the book. There simply isn’t a definitive answer to the question. It seems clear that Ghosn did, in fact, make some efforts to hide deferred compensation. It also seems likely that he at least occasionally used corporate funds to pay private expenses. The more relevant question is whether this rises to the level of criminal conduct or if it was merely a tool Nissan, in collusion with Japanese government officials, used to remove Ghosn as Nissan CEO.
Both parties have much to answer for. Ghosn has failed to satisfactorily explain many of his convoluted compensation schemes. Nissan has failed to explain why the only parties accused of criminal behavior were Ghosn and Greg Kelly, the manager of the CEO office. Managing this scheme required the efforts of a number of Nissan employees and executives, but, inexplicably, the Japanese participants in this “conspiracy” weren’t prosecuted.
The authors are to be commended for their even-handed efforts to tell this story. They lay out the facts and leave it up to the reader to draw his own conclusion. My only criticism of the book is that it is much longer than it needs to be. I don’t understand the business of publishing, but I assume 150-page books aren’t as marketable as 300-page books, which is the only reasonable explanation for the length of this book. For example, while some insight into the Japanese financial crisis of 1990 was helpful, the authors' discussion of this topic is much too long, and, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, they return to it over and over again. This material seems like filler material, and it adds little to the story. However, if you are looking for a comprehensive, unbiased account of the Carlos Ghosn saga, I recommend this book.
The story became even more scintillating in December 2019 when Ghosn boldly escaped from Japan by stowing away in an audio equipment box on a private plane. It was all so dramatic that many journalists have commented on the story's potential as a Hollywood movie. However, I suspect Hollywood would have a problem portraying the character of Carlos Ghosn. Is he a victim or a villain? A hero or an antihero? Did he escape injustice or flee justice? Those, and many others, are the questions that Hans Greimel and William Sposato tackle in Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars That Upended an Auto Empire.
Under the tutelage of long-time Renault CEO Louis Schweitzer, Ghosn emerged as the head of the Renault-Nissan “Alliance” in 1999. Nissan, a Japanese corporate icon, was on the verge of collapse. Years of mismanagement and a Japanese cultural philosophy that favored lifetime employment over sound business decisions and profits had left the company bloated and nearly insolvent. Ghosn took an iconoclastic approach to the company and insisted on massive layoffs and other Western-style management decisions that, while it violated every Japanese management taboo, saved the company. By 2002, Nissan was profitable and selling cars at a record pace. Accomplishing such a turnaround in such a short period of time elevated Ghosn to the status of national hero in Japan.
In fact, Ghosn’s revival of Nissan was so remarkable that it was soon contributing the lion’s share of sales volume and profitability to the Renault-Nissan Alliance. This created a great deal of tension with both Nissan management and the Japanese government because Renault has a controlling interest in Nissan. While businesses operate as private entities in Japan just as they do in the U.S. and most Western countries, the Japanese government takes a much more hands-on approach to their best known corporations, especially their iconic car companies. The idea of one of their best-known companies being controlled by a French conglomerate and, by extension, the French government even as Nissan was driving both sales volume and profit for the combined entities was a source of frustration for Nissan corporate executives and Japanese government officials.
As the CEO for both companies, it was Ghosn’s job to manage the tension between the two companies and the two governments, but palace intrigue was inevitable and never ending. Tensions erupted over the French government’s meddling into the business operations of Nissan by, for example, pulling production of a popular Nissan model from India, where the vehicle was sold and marketed, to an economically depressed region of France. These maneuvers served the interest of France much more than the interest of Nissan shareholders, but they also dealt a serious blow to the pride and morale of Nissan’s executives and the government officials who felt it was their duty to protect a national treasure.
However, perhaps a bigger problem for Ghosn was that he yearned for the type of pay that was typical in places like the U.S. while working for companies located in two countries that placed a high priority on egalitarian pay: France and Japan. Executives in both countries are expected to settle for pay that is a fraction of the pay received by U.S. executives. However, in Japan, as in the U.S., companies are free to pay their executives whatever they wish so long as the pay and benefits are disclosed to shareholders. Initially, this wasn’t a problem for Ghosn because the disclosure rules only required disclosure of total executive pay, but a rule change several years ago required the company to disclose the individual pay for each executive.
How Ghosn and Nissan dealt with this disclosure requirement is the crux of the case against Ghosn and the reason he wound up in a Japanese detention center facing criminal charges. According to Japanese prosecutors, Ghosn deliberately hid millions of dollars in deferred compensation as a means of circumventing disclosure requirements. According to Ghosn and his attorneys, Nissan used the Japanese criminal justice system to remove him as head of Nissan because they feared he would attempt to force the company into an irreversible merger with Renault.
The answer to this question is complicated, and, spoiler alert, the authors do not offer a definitive answer. This isn’t a shortcoming of the book. There simply isn’t a definitive answer to the question. It seems clear that Ghosn did, in fact, make some efforts to hide deferred compensation. It also seems likely that he at least occasionally used corporate funds to pay private expenses. The more relevant question is whether this rises to the level of criminal conduct or if it was merely a tool Nissan, in collusion with Japanese government officials, used to remove Ghosn as Nissan CEO.
Both parties have much to answer for. Ghosn has failed to satisfactorily explain many of his convoluted compensation schemes. Nissan has failed to explain why the only parties accused of criminal behavior were Ghosn and Greg Kelly, the manager of the CEO office. Managing this scheme required the efforts of a number of Nissan employees and executives, but, inexplicably, the Japanese participants in this “conspiracy” weren’t prosecuted.
The authors are to be commended for their even-handed efforts to tell this story. They lay out the facts and leave it up to the reader to draw his own conclusion. My only criticism of the book is that it is much longer than it needs to be. I don’t understand the business of publishing, but I assume 150-page books aren’t as marketable as 300-page books, which is the only reasonable explanation for the length of this book. For example, while some insight into the Japanese financial crisis of 1990 was helpful, the authors' discussion of this topic is much too long, and, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, they return to it over and over again. This material seems like filler material, and it adds little to the story. However, if you are looking for a comprehensive, unbiased account of the Carlos Ghosn saga, I recommend this book.
September 14, 2021
Goodreads giveaway. I’m sure it’s a definite read for a business major. Just not my cup of tea.
November 27, 2022
Interesting book with profound implications, but the organization of the narrative could have been better. At times, I found myself getting lost in the details, and frequently I would have trouble with the ordering of the narrative. A book with excellent reportage but substandard writing.
July 11, 2021
Nothing that serious has never been written about the Ghosn affair since his arrest and spectacular arrest. This is the first serious account of the saga, starting with the "miraculous" turnaround of Nissan from 1999, going through the structural changes of the automative industry, and explaining the cultural and business background of the fall of "Le Cost Cutter". Was Ghosn arrested because he was a fraudster? Or because a group of nationalist executives -with a little help of officials and politicians- wanted to stop the "irreversible" merger of Nissan and Renault wished by the French side and pressed by Macron? This is still up in the air. "More broadly, the ugly scandal that enveloped Ghosn and the Alliance highlighted collisions between France and Japan over the role of government in modern-day international commerce", write the two authors... Furthermore, "lawyers in Japan noted that in the Ghosn-Kelly case, the matter appeared to go straight from the company to the criminal prosecutors, an unusual short-circuiting of the process. They also note that it was the first time that individuals have been charged with criminal wrongdoing over the required financial regulatory filing involved."
November 10, 2021
I give this the “solid / decent” ranking. The writing doesn’t have any flaws, though it’s not remotely beautiful. It got a bit repetitive at times. The audiobook was 12 hours. I would have appreciated if it were more in the 9 hour range.
I learned a good amount about the morally reprehensible Japanese criminal justice system, where prisons strip inmates of their humanity and defendants rarely have a chance in the courtroom. A stain on Japanese society, gl. E sure.
The book covered perhaps a few too many topics: Ghosn, the Japanese legal system, the global auto industry, Nissan, etc.
The book’s biggest strength is enlightening the reader on how the conformist Japanese society can ruin your life if you attempt to make some bold moves.
The book’s biggest weakness, and what prevents it from approaching greatness, is the dearth of insight into what makes Ghosn tick. Why did he do the things that he did? What made him so respected in his rise to power?
I learned a good amount about the morally reprehensible Japanese criminal justice system, where prisons strip inmates of their humanity and defendants rarely have a chance in the courtroom. A stain on Japanese society, gl. E sure.
The book covered perhaps a few too many topics: Ghosn, the Japanese legal system, the global auto industry, Nissan, etc.
The book’s biggest strength is enlightening the reader on how the conformist Japanese society can ruin your life if you attempt to make some bold moves.
The book’s biggest weakness, and what prevents it from approaching greatness, is the dearth of insight into what makes Ghosn tick. Why did he do the things that he did? What made him so respected in his rise to power?
September 16, 2022
One of the more interesting business stories of recent years - the arrest, prosecution and subsequent flight from Japanese justice of Carlos Ghosn, the one-time CEO of the Renault - Nissan - Mitsubishi automobile alliance. This book covers the scandal in detail and goes deeper to examine the cultural conflicts encountered during Ghoshn's time in charge with an emphasis on the difficulty of reconciling the wishes of the French Government (the largest shareholder in Renault) with that of the Japanese government (considered to be working behind the scenes to preserve the independence of Nissan).
The authors are experts in the field with a deep knowledge of the Japanese business environment and the automotive industry more generally; the book is strong in looking behind the scenes of the Japanese justice system and how it works by putting pressure on suspects to confess guilt (although as thy point out the US system does much the same thing). They look at the Japanese court system, the jail system and in doing so indicate why Ghoshn made the shocking decision he did to stowaway on an international flight back to Lebanon.
It was disappointing that the most exciting part of the whole story - the escape itself - was covered in just a coupe of pages, it seems the author's were aware of much of the details and the background to the escape and more could have been made of the various elements that brought the whole plan together; in addition I would have liked to know more about Ghoshn's life after his return to Lebanon and more from his perspective of what exactly went on behind the scenes (the authors did conduct a video interview with Ghoshn from his Lebanon home discussed in the last couple of pages).
Overall though an interesting read, that goes beyond this particular case (although that is covered in detail) for a broader understanding for anyone interested in international business and the challenges of global integration.
The authors are experts in the field with a deep knowledge of the Japanese business environment and the automotive industry more generally; the book is strong in looking behind the scenes of the Japanese justice system and how it works by putting pressure on suspects to confess guilt (although as thy point out the US system does much the same thing). They look at the Japanese court system, the jail system and in doing so indicate why Ghoshn made the shocking decision he did to stowaway on an international flight back to Lebanon.
It was disappointing that the most exciting part of the whole story - the escape itself - was covered in just a coupe of pages, it seems the author's were aware of much of the details and the background to the escape and more could have been made of the various elements that brought the whole plan together; in addition I would have liked to know more about Ghoshn's life after his return to Lebanon and more from his perspective of what exactly went on behind the scenes (the authors did conduct a video interview with Ghoshn from his Lebanon home discussed in the last couple of pages).
Overall though an interesting read, that goes beyond this particular case (although that is covered in detail) for a broader understanding for anyone interested in international business and the challenges of global integration.
December 10, 2021
Greimal provides an adequate overview of the story and circumstances surrounding Carlos Ghosn leadership of Nissan and subsequent arrest. Greimal should have taken more advantage of the private and public investigations into Ghosn to provide a critical look at the charges, and a closer look at Japan's justice system. However, by the end of the Greimal has not helped the reader come to any conclusions about either Ghosn or justice in Japan. Has Ghosn adequately confronted and explained the actual facts regarding his compensation package? Is Japan's justice system really that bad beyond the anecdotal stories that make headlines involving sensational cases or prominent people? Is there any substance to the idea of a conspiracy at Nissan to oust Ghosn? It is disappointing that, ultimately, this book does not reach its potential to help the reader come to conclusions or add something new to the underlying problem of facing Japan's criminal justice system. This book would be best for people who are not geeks when it comes to Japan, cars, business, current affairs, or one of the few other topics that Greimal does an unfulfilling job covering. It is best for folks new to some of these issues who missed the headlines when the events were happening and are looking to take a first step into understanding this interesting case.
April 2, 2022
I really followed this story at the time it happened - I actually had met the wife of Greg Kelly who was also arrested. Just a regular family. There is no way that Greg had a fraction of the resources Carlos Ghosn had. I also knew people who worked for Ghosen and knew his cult of personality and his ambition, but also how he lead the company.
There were also interesting parts about Japanese justice - how things worked, what was going on behind the scenes with Renault. Then the escape was just wild. The book was actully published before the trial of Greg Kelly and he ended up getting a 6 month suspended sentence after he had already been in Jail for months and Japan for years.
I don't know how it would fall for the general public more straight forward on all Ghosn did wrong, but it is so interesting if you lived in the world of the Global Japanese auto companies.
There were also interesting parts about Japanese justice - how things worked, what was going on behind the scenes with Renault. Then the escape was just wild. The book was actully published before the trial of Greg Kelly and he ended up getting a 6 month suspended sentence after he had already been in Jail for months and Japan for years.
I don't know how it would fall for the general public more straight forward on all Ghosn did wrong, but it is so interesting if you lived in the world of the Global Japanese auto companies.
December 23, 2022
Interesting story, full of different subtopics to explore and to cover. Unfortunately the book is so poorly structured / written that it is painful to read. It seems more like a collection of articles where you have to figure out the story (not having a clear chronological line has been clearly a mistake). Authors forget that we have been reading for a while and get back to facts already mentioned before. It's really all over the place.
I would have liked to recommend to watch the Netflix documentary instead to save several hours of your time, but the documentary is not that good neither. Sorry about that! (?)
I would have liked to recommend to watch the Netflix documentary instead to save several hours of your time, but the documentary is not that good neither. Sorry about that! (?)
June 4, 2022
3.5*, very complete account of the complex story of Carlos Ghosn. Definitely interesting to understand the clash of different (corporate) cultures and the influence of the context in the way a business is driven. If you work for a multinational company you may understand what I mean here. Regarding the book itself, I concur with some comments here, there are far too many repetitions along the book that hinder the flow and sometimes they drive you crazy. It seems more the collection of several press articles patched together to make a book
September 11, 2022
At time this book shines and gives a clear picture of the difficulties that the auto industry has faced for the last twenty years and how Carlos Ghosn navigated a cross national strategic alliance between Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. I particularly enjoyed learning about the national security risk from each of the countries (Japan & France) involved, given the high level employment these auto manufacturers employ in their respective countries. It also exposes the challenges of Japans legal system and why Carlos fled the country in a box.
April 6, 2023
Having lived in Tokyo during this event and being inundated with all the Carlos Ghosn news via The Japan Times and television, I was hoping to get more of the inside scoop. I found this book a little repetitive and a deep dive into the Japanese auto business, and Japanese business structure/culture,
in general. I will say the book was very careful and did not choose sides in this interesting case. If you are interested in this event and know nothing about these events, it would be interesting.
in general. I will say the book was very careful and did not choose sides in this interesting case. If you are interested in this event and know nothing about these events, it would be interesting.
September 4, 2021
Well researched. After reading it one gets a deeper understanding of Carlos Ghosn the executive and Japan's 'hostage' justice system. Some parts of the book felt rushed and didn't flow as well as a perfectly edited book. Regarding the subject matter, I think Ghosn wasn't innocent, but Nissan should have treated him better. The treatment he was accorded despite his contribution to Nissan and Japan's economy was typical of cowards.
September 8, 2021
An excellent book on a fascinating person and a fascinating affair. The book touches upon many interesting topics and does so in an insightful yet highly readable way. Intercultural differences, government involvement in industry, corporate governance at Nissan and, of course, the personality of Carlos Ghosn and his spectacular rise and fall. A must read for anyone interested in the Japanese economy, in business in general, and, of course, in automobiles and the automotive industry,
October 13, 2021
I didn't expect to find this book as interesting as I did, but it turns out I was completely wrong. The book explores business, the culture of Japan and its legal system, white collar crime, and more. It is a detailed account of the story of Carlos Ghosn - that I honestly wasn't familiar with before reading. I gave it 4 stars because there were moments that seemed slightly repetitive and it could have been edited a little more heavily there. Otherwise, really interesting read!
September 5, 2021
A very good book that goes beyond the stellar career of Carlos Ghosn, his turnaround of Nissan and his spectacular escape from Japan. The book also analyzes the cultural gap between Japanese and Western companies and interestingly compares the Western and Japanese judicial and penitential systems. A very interesting read for anyone working in multi-cultural environments whatever the industry.
May 3, 2022
Well it started off with lot of information on Japan and the various systems and processes however couldn’t tie well with the storyline of him escaping.
But I will give this book 4 stars simply because the knowledge I consumed about various intricacies , cultural differences and ebbs and flows of a life of a person directly impacting huge organisations is marvellously written and depicted.
But I will give this book 4 stars simply because the knowledge I consumed about various intricacies , cultural differences and ebbs and flows of a life of a person directly impacting huge organisations is marvellously written and depicted.
July 28, 2023
I first became interested in the Carlos Ghosn Affair after listening to multipart podcast from Harvard Business Review which I highly recommend.
Collision Course is a well balanced and researched book that goes beyond the headlines. Greimel and Sposato unpack complex ethical issues and business decisions leaving the reader with more questions and to weigh evidence for themselves.
Collision Course is a well balanced and researched book that goes beyond the headlines. Greimel and Sposato unpack complex ethical issues and business decisions leaving the reader with more questions and to weigh evidence for themselves.
June 29, 2021
Loved this. Gripping story and I learnt a lot (especially about Japan).
The cultural/sociological, business, and legal stuff is fascinating. Even enjoyed learning about automotive industry haha.
Brilliantly presents all the nuances, different points of view, complexity.
The cultural/sociological, business, and legal stuff is fascinating. Even enjoyed learning about automotive industry haha.
Brilliantly presents all the nuances, different points of view, complexity.
July 27, 2021
Very interesting book, well written, detailed. The jury is still out so to speak with regards to the overall outcome. I'm thinking the lesson learned is hyper transparency so there is no room for doubt about one's intent and actions. I highly recommend it for leaders at all levels.
August 15, 2021
Interesting read for car industry buffs about the cultural clashes between Japan and the Western world with deep insights into a faulty legal system. While written well, the books structure is not easy to follow at times.
February 7, 2024
A pretty interesting deep dive by a pair of auto industry reporters who trace the history and conflicts of the Japanese-French alliance. I wanted more on the crazy Ghosn escape and for that the Apple TV documentary is better. Still: a good business book.
May 19, 2025
Always been drawn by the Carlos Ghosn story. Good to understand the inner workings of Japan's judicial system and the heft of the Renault-Nissan alliance. Loved that this book did not shy away from the depth in the bnackground story (and did not entirely just focus on the thriling escape of Ghosn).
June 7, 2021
It was a good read.
July 2, 2021
Repetitious in places and it repeats itself, but still, a jaw-dropping journey to the thinnest layer of the egosphere.
July 9, 2021
Kino kino
July 27, 2021
Interesting, well written, fast paced.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews