Nissan chief defends pay deal

Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn highlighted the quick recovery of the carmaker from a year of disasters as shareholders questioned low dividends and a lagging stock price.

He said his pay of 987 million yen (€9.6m), up 0.5% from the previous year, was reasonable compared to a global standard of €14m for car industry chief executives.

No shareholder raised questions on his pay, which easily won shareholder approval at the annual meeting.

Nissan Motor, which makes the Altima sedan, Infiniti luxury model and Leaf electric car, is allied with Renault SA of France, and has more foreign executives than other Japanese carmakers.

Mr Ghosn’s pay draws attention as it is the highest among chief executives at major Japanese companies.