FILE PHOTO: Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault, speaks during the French carmaker Renault's 2017 annual results presentation at their headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, France, February 16, 2018. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

(Reuters) - Renault SA's RENA.PA Carlos Ghosn is likely to step down as chief executive of the French carmaker before the end of his term in 2022, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Ghosn would remain the chairman of Renault and also continue as chief executive and chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance responsible for driving the three groups closer towards being a single global entity, the FT reported.

“You can suspect before 2022 I will stop being CEO of Renault,” Ghosn told the FT.

Renault was not immediately available for a request for comment.

Last September, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance unveiled a 2022 mid-term plan which targeted increasing annual synergies to more than 10 billion euros, up from 5 billion in 2016.

Besides heading Renault, Ghosn serves as chairman of all three carmakers and is described as CEO of their expanding alliance, piloted by a Dutch-registered management company with no direct shareholder oversight or independent administrators - a sore point for some investors.