From Detroit Free Press

If the atmosphere in Detroit seems especially thick Friday, for once it won’t be the humidity. It will be the high-pressure impact of two great forces — one sweeping in from Europe, the other fixed in Michigan — which could shake the automotive industry from Japan to Detroit.

Rick Wagoner, the head of General Motors Corp., is scheduled that day to meet with Carlos Ghosn, the head of both Nissan and Renault, to discuss a possible GM-Renault-Nissan alliance at the suggestion of GM investor Kirk Kerkorian.

With billions in investor cash, thousands of jobs and the bedrock of Michigan’s economy in play, all eyes are on them.

But put the future aside for a moment and consider this: In maneuvering such a meeting, Kerkorian has publicly brought together two of the biggest powers and personalities in the automotive world — the GM Giant and the Turnaround Rock Star — for the rarest of sit-downs under awkward first-date circumstances.

How the men handle the meeting is a subject of much speculation: Is this a precursor to Wagoner losing his job? Can Ghosn be the savior GM has been waiting for? The only remaining voices of reason might belong to Wagoner and Ghosn.

At first glance, Wagoner — the lanky Virginian who played college basketball — and Ghosn — the polished Frenchman of Lebanese heritage and Brazilian birth — would seem to have little in common.

But friends and auto insiders say the men share important qualities. Both display grace and cool in tight spaces, under high pressure.

Ghosn is known as a skilled negotiator from Paris to Washington, D.C.

“I’ve been extremely impressed with Carlos Ghosn,” said Sen. Trent Lott, R-MS, who has dealt directly with Ghosn over tax issues, fuel-economy rules and a Nissan plant in Canton, MS, near Jackson. “He will tell you what he’s looking for, what he expects. In my opinion, he’s the best corporate executive in the world.”

Despite such praise, Wagoner’s confidence won’t be undone by an outsider.

“Rick is smart enough to know what he doesn’t know, and to listen to people who do. That makes him unique among the people who have run GM,” said Jim Hall, vice president of industry analysis in the Southfield office of consultant AutoPacific. “He’s not afraid to go outside the corporation to find the right person for a job.”

Ghosn and Wagoner are numbers guys from the same generation — Wagoner is 53, Ghosn is 52 — with degrees from elite schools: Duke and Harvard for Wagoner, and for Ghosn, the technology and engineering colleges ecole Polytechnique and ecole des Mines de Paris.

Both men are described by people who know them with adjectives not generally associated with those who make multimillion-dollar salaries and have personal jets: affable and approachable.

If the conventional wisdom on Ghosn is that he is the original Decider (apologies to President George W. Bush), slashing Nissan’s budget and boosting profits ahead of his own publicly declared schedule, then the conventional wisdom on Wagoner is that he is the Deliberator, taking too long to produce change across GM’s empire.

But conventional wisdom might not be the most reliable measure. Wagoner said this week that contrary to speculation, he is open to discussing an alliance with Nissan and Renault. And Ghosn’s assumed desire to run GM may be overblown.

“I’m afraid that my ambitions are lower than what you are describing,” he said to a Forbes reporter who pressed him on the issue in an interview published in late May.

Mark Hogan, a former GM executive who has known Wagoner since their days at Harvard, said Wagoner is decisive but thorough. Hogan, now the head of Magna International in Troy, MI, pointed to Wagoner’s success in Brazil.

When Wagoner was head of GM’s operations there in the early 1990s, he anticipated an easing of Brazilian trade restrictions and pounced on the chance to introduce a modern line of vehicles into its market. The move pushed GM from third place to first place in the country.

“He made that change two or three years ahead of the competition,” said Hogan, who ran GM’s Brazil operation after Wagoner was promoted.

“There’s a lot of complexity around the automobile industry. A ready-aim-fire mentality typically doesn’t work,” Hogan said.

Others note that this underscores a major philosophical break in management styles of the two men. Ghosn preaches simplifying and streamlining complicated business systems. Wagoner often talks about navigating the complexities of a global industry.

But Ghosn, for his reputation as a ready-aim-fire sort of guy, is open-minded, too. “When you meet with Mr. Ghosn on whatever issue, you’re going to get a decision,” said Jim Morton, vice chairman for Nissan North America in Nashville, TN.

To the extent that their personalities and strategic positions will impact Friday’s meeting, Ghosn and Wagoner will have different goals.

“Rick is going to hold his cards close to his vest,” said David Magee, author of the book “Turnaround,” which details Ghosn’s success at Nissan. Ghosn likely will be more up front, Magee said.

“For him, the hook of this meeting is whether or not he can convince Rick Wagoner that GM shareholders and employees will be better off with this alliance.”

The stars, it turns out, may be aligned for both of them.

Wagoner’s horoscope for the week says, “It may be a good time to negotiate, make deals.”

Copyright 2006 Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

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