Almost 10,000 miles separate Carlos Ghosn's two offices since he officially added the top job at France's car maker Renault to his existing role as head of Japan's Nissan last Friday. The 51-year-old, whose style of doing business has already earned him the nicknames "cost-killer" and "ice-breaker", is already a celebrity in Japan.
Now the turnaround king, who saved Nissan from bankruptcy in 1999, is returning to his former home Renault. He takes on a globally gruelling remit that will see him split his time between France, Japan and the US, where he will still personally oversee Nissan's operations.
Ghosn officially took on the role of Renault chief executive when the company met for its annual general meeting last week. He appeared unfazed by his new joint role, possibly his most ambitious challenge yet, despite the relative good health of Renault and Nissan.
But any suggestion that the alliance between the two firms, under which Renault owns a 44 per cent stake in Nissan, could develop into a full-blown merger is quickly dismissed.
Ghosn now faces the challenge of simultaneously guiding the two car makers, both recent star performers in their respective markets, through bruising market conditions. Together they form the world's fifth largest car producer, although both firms have warned 2005 will be a tough year.
Born in 1954 in Brazil to parents of Lebanese descent, Ghosn grew up in Lebanon and has French and Brazilian nationality.
After studying engineering, Ghosn began his career at French tyre-maker Michelin, and rose to become chairman and chief executive of its North American arm, where he oversaw a restructuring after the 1990 acquisition of Uniroyal Goodrich.
From Michelin he moved to Renault, to tackle another restructuring challenge that kicked off with the closure of the Vilvoorde plant in Belgium, a move that cost 3,100 jobs and created much bad will towards the Renault brand in Belgium.
But it was his 1999 move to Japan's Nissan that cemented his status both as a master of turnarounds and a celebrity manager. At the conservative firm he lived up to his cost-killer reputation, slashing 21,000 jobs and closing car plants.
Resistance to his straight, seemingly ruthless style was strong at first, but he eventually won over employees and the investors by achieving the commitments he set for the company.
One of the first things he did when he joined the company was to craft a three-year revival plan setting targets which, to widespead surprise, were met a year ahead of time.
This has been followed by two other plans. The latest, Nissan Value-Up, aims to boost global sales to 4.2 million units, maintain the highest level of operating margin in the industry and achieve an average return on capital employed of at least 20 per cent through the business year to March 2008.