French automaker Renault says it has named a top executive of Nissan Americas as its chief operating officer _ an effort to get past an embarrassing scandal over false accusations of espionage, according to AP. The partially state-owned French car maker said Carlos Tavares, head of operations at the U.S. division of Renault partner Nissan, will take up the post starting Monday. In a statement, Carlos Ghosn _ the CEO of both Renault and Nissan _ called the appointment of Tavares «a first step in strengthening Renault's management.» Renault in April announced a wide-scale corporate shakeout that included the ouster of Patrick Pelata from the COO post following a scandal over false accusations against three executives for espionage.
