Don't Do What Carlos Ghosn Did: Yamaha

What’s a motorcycle and snowmobile builder doing talking about fallen Renault/Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn? It isn’t. The headline refers to the other Yamaha, maker of boxes big and small, among other things.

Yamaha Corporation, a company you may remember from music class (or perhaps your high school garage band), has clearly followed the strange and compelling saga of Carlos Ghosn, who escaped from Japanese authorities, at last report, by smuggling himself onto a private jet inside an oversized instrument case. Perhaps even a Yamaha case, as the company seems to be the leading maker of such things.

“We won’t mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing inside large musical instrument cases,” the company tweeted over the weekend. “A warning after any unfortunate accident would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it.”

Confinement inside any locked case, especially one with tight tolerances and no openings, poses a risk of suffocation, so it’s prudent for Yamaha to issue the warning (knowing all the while that its tweet would go viral). Once upon a time, parents would warn kids not to hide in abandoned refrigerators for the same reason. Those thinks locked once you got in ’em.

Ghosn’s instrument case journey ended well for the former industry titan. Landing in Beirut, Lebanon after switching hired planes in Istanbul, Ghosn’s newfound freedom allowed him to go on the offensive last week against the Japanese judiciary and Nissan executives. The former exec claims Japanese officials and the Nissan hierarchy conspired to oust him from the company on phoney financial charges to avoid closer integration with alliance partner Renault.

Currently, Ghosn and Co. are preparing an onslaught of litigation against his former colleagues. Meanwhile, Japan has issued an arrest warrant for Ghosn and his wife, Carole.

[Source: Reuters] [Image: Frederic Legrand/Shutterstock]