When Carlos Ghosn was brought in seven years ago to try and rescue Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ: NSANY) from the edge of financial death, few would have bet that he could do it. Yet not only has Ghosn turned Nissan around and made the Japanese auto company profitable (for six straight years now), but the company is doing well even in the face of Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM)'s onslaught in recent years and is flying in the face of failures at General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F). GM did report a very good August U.S. sales month yesterday, which was a surprise.

Ghosn also heads French automaker Renault, and he's bringing in the heavy guns from that operation into Nissan based on slipping profits in 2006. Although Nissan reported a profit for the year, the amount was a fall from previous years, which must have started Ghosn's head spinning. A relentless cost cutter and advocate for building what customers want with a minimum of global manufacturing platforms, Ghosn has signified that a more "French" touch is needed at Nissan. After Nissan lost is CFO in 2003, a new one from Renault will soon be taking the helm at Nissan in order to shore up what can be done to make the Japanese automaker set back on the track to growing profits.

Ghosn is hailed at a hero in Japan after rescuing a company that was headed down the path to extinction before he took over, and by all accounts Nissan is still doing quite well, even with small market losses in both Japan and the U.S. last year. It's never good to lose market share, but the automaker is still very profitable -- so why all the stink? Well, Ghosn probably wants growth in both market share and profits, right? Who wouldn't? The only thing is that competition is more than fierce at this time, and it's not getting anything but more fierce.

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