"The board of directors will meet again in April to make its conclusions," said Renault.

Earlier this week, Japan's Nissan and Renault said they would retool the world's top car-making alliance to put themselves on a more equal footing, breaking up the all-powerful chairmanship previously wielded by Ghosn.

Ghosn is facing trial in Japan for failing to disclose some $82 million (62 million pounds) in income he had arranged to be paid later, as well as transferring personal investment losses to Nissan when he was chief executive. He denies any wrongdoing.

Ghosn is credited for rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999.

Renault bought 43 percent of Nissan ahead of the 1999 rescue. Nissan holds a 15 percent, non-voting stake in Renault, while Renault's top shareholder is the French government.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Stocks treated in this article : Renault, MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION