The move provides continuity and senior leadership as the country’s carmakers grapple with the shift to carbon neutrality.

Kelly said coming home after his three-year legal odyssey in Japan was “like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz,” as he choked up with emotion during a press conference from Nashville. “There’s no place like home,” he said.

Akio Toyoda, in his role as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, expressed shock and sadness at the killing.

Ghosn, the fugitive automotive icon, says the Tokyo court’s conviction of his onetime deputy Greg Kelly is a “warning” to foreigners doing business in Japan.

Rahm Emanuel, nominated as the next top U.S. diplomat to the longtime Asian ally, says he has ordered a review of Kelly’s legal odyssey in Japan and is making the matter a “top priority.”

A Tokyo court is about to render a verdict on former Nissan director Greg Kelly in a closely watched ruling that has become a lightning rod of corporate and diplomatic maneuvering. The trial began in September 2020.

In handing Greg Kelly a six-month suspended sentence and fining Nissan, a Tokyo court seemed intent on issuing a proxy judgment for Carlos Ghosn in absentia.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said: "We are relieved that the legal process has concluded, and Mr. and Mrs. Kelly can return home." Carlos Ghosn told journalists on a video call: “He’s obviously an innocent man."

Indicted former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn says he is stepping up the campaign to reclaim his legacy, calls Nissan "boring" and says its alliance with Renault is a "zombie."

Kenji Shimotsu just handed down a harsh jail term to a 90-year-old defendant in another case.

The wait begins in the case -- a proxy for ousted boss Carlos Ghosn -- that could see the former HR executive sentenced to two years in a Japanese prison.

The investigative committee tasked by truck and bus maker Hino Motors blamed the scandal on an environment where engineers did not feel able to challenge superiors, in a rare criticism of corporate culture in Japan.

Carlos Ghosn warns that old-guard companies such as Nissan must speed up their EV plans to stay competitive with newcomers.