AUTOSHOW-Ghosn says to stay Renault-Nissan CEO for near term

GENEVA, March 3 (Reuters) - Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Renault SA (RENA.PA) and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), said on Wednesday he planned to stay on as head of the Franco-Japanese alliance for the foreseeable future.

The timing of Ghosn's departure has surfaced from time to time, most recently after he appointed his deputy Patrick Pelata as chief operating officer at Renault over a year ago. Ghosn had also said when he took his post at Nissan in 1999 that he expected to stay no more than 10 years.

"I think the fact that I have a chief operating officer in both Renault and Nissan is a normal evolution where we want a good strategic focus, a good hands-on operation and very short decision timing," he told a small group of reporters at the Geneva auto show.

"I don't think you should see it as a preparation of a retirement."

Ghosn added he expected the Renault board to name him by April 30 as a candidate to lead the carmaker for the next four years.

"If you see me among the candidates, you can probably understand that I'm not about to take more distance from the operations," he said. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by Hans Peters)