A Rock Star’s Rebirth

The next morning, Ghosn has a bracing breakfast with dealers that shows not all the cylinders are firing at Nissan. In a windowless hotel conference room the Nissan dealers complain that they need more big sellers. Ghosn pushes back: "We have a bigger offering than Honda. The problem is we sell less. Why?" Later, one of the chastened dealers says of Ghosn's tough love: "It was like I was talking to my dad."

At the end of a long day, though, the tough guy admits the past year took a toll. "When your performance declines," he says, "the first thing you do is question yourself."

The next day, Ghosn is back where he is happiest—onstage. This time it's a packed auditorium of students at Stanford University. He brings down the house explaining his inability to woo reluctant GM. "Can you buy your wife?" he asks to howls of laughter. "You can't say, 'You have to live with me because I bought you.' Each person wants to feel enriched by their marriage." Ghosn gets a hero's ovation, but M.B.A. student Lydia Jett wonders about his staying power. "To be a star like Jack Welch," she says, "he has to deliver over the long term." That's why Ghosn is on the road again, trying to prove he's more than a one-hit wonder.

© 2007