NISSAN has called time on Makoto Uchida’s stint as its CEO – with the car giant in the midst of a crisis.
According to reports, Uchida – who has come under fire after the Japanese marque failed to secure a much-anticipated merger with Honda – is to be replaced in the role by its chief planning officer, Ivan Espinosa.
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The change comes as Nissan is planning a huge overhaul of its leadership – with the key aim to steer it away from the abyss.
Autocar reports the move comes as part of a drive to “achieve the company’s short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth”.
The change is joined by a number of other top-level management changes, with Espinosa to take the reins from April 1.
Yasushi Kimura, chair of Nissan’s board of directors, said: “Given the industry wide challenges and Nissan’s performance, we believe it is necessary as well as appropriate to change the top management team.”
IN TURMOIL
Nissan is currently facing losses of $534 million by the end of March – with the car marque’s struggles first appearing in mid-2024.
Indeed, signs of trouble began in May when they asked dealers in the US to begin selling cars at a loss.
News then broke that Nissan and Honda were to expand their earlier partnership to work on electric vehicles and software alongside fellow manufacturer Mitsubishi.
But in November, they dropped the bombshell announcement that some 9,000 employees globally would be laid off, along with the reduction of production.
By the end of 2024, some company executives had disclosed that Nissan had 12 to 14 months left to survive – a frightening prospect, with their best chance of continuing being a merger with another company.
In December, the CEOs of Nissan and Honda met for official talks and announced they would officially look to merge.
But these talks deteriorated in the new year as Nissan withdrew from the deal, following Honda’s proposal to make them a subsidiary.
MEET THE NEW BOSS
On Monday, Uchida, who’s led the company since 2019, announced his departure in a press conference.
He said: “I believe that clarifying the direction of Nissan as soon as possible, and quickly passing the baton to my successor is the way to take responsibility as CEO of the company.
“To this end, I have been striving to improve Nissan’s performance, however since we unveiled the turnaround actions last fall, people – not only outside the company, but also our employees – started to question my responsibility.
“The top priority of Nissan today is to break away from the current situation as quickly as possible and bring the company back to the growth track.
“It is essential to create an environment that enables our employees to join forces and work as one team in order to make this a reality.”
The news bolsters prospects for renewed discussions with Honda, raising the possibility of talks between the two being reignited.
A Nissan source recently told Japan’s Nikkei that “the talks will probably proceed in the direction of accepting Honda’s investment” under the direction of a new management team.
Uchida did not confirm talks with Honda would be restarted following his exit.
But he did say that Nissan is “exploring every opportunity without any expectations to address a number of additional risks and transform our structure to enable our company to realise its mid- and long-term direction”.
Espinosa, though, refused to be drawn on the potential for talks with Honda.
He said: “I would refrain from commenting on speculation at the moment.
“My immediate focus is to work with the team, get them engaged and look forward to the future.”
When he starts his role, his main responsibility will be to implement a turnaround plan that aims to achieve annual cost savings of £2 billion.
THE FUTURE
Nissan recently announced plans to shut down three factories worldwide by the end of 2026.
The company also intends to reduce vehicle development timelines from 52 months to 37 months.
Espinosa will play a key role in overseeing the development of vital new models, including the next-generation Qashqai and Juke – two of Nissan’s best-selling vehicles in the UK.
This year will also mark the debut of the all-new Nissan Leaf and Micra EVs.
Additionally, Uchida recently confirmed plans for Nissan to introduce an electric city car for Europe, potentially based on the new Twingo developed by their Alliance partner Renault.
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