Ivan Espinosa to succeed Makoto Uchida as Nissan CEO from April 1

TOKYO, JAPAN: Nissan Motor Co. has appointed company insider Ivan Espinosa to succeed CEO Makoto Uchida as the troubled Japanese automaker seeks a financial partner to stabilise its struggling operations.

Espinosa, who has been with Nissan since 2003 and currently serves as chief planning officer, will take over as CEO on April 1, with Uchida stepping down at the end of March, according to the announcement made by the carmaker on Tuesday and reported by Bloomberg.

At 46 years old, Espinosa faces the significant challenge of revitalizing Nissan’s declining performance and securing a business alliance following the breakdown of the proposed merger with Honda Motor Co. Since the 2018 removal of influential executive Carlos Ghosn, who previously rescued the company from near failure in 1999, Nissan has encountered a series of crises.

Uchida’s time at the helm came under intense criticism in November, when Nissan disclosed a staggering 94 percent drop in net income for the first half of the fiscal year, alongside plans to lay off 9,000 employees and reduce production capacity by 20 percent. Just a month later, he signed an agreement to merge with Honda under a single holding company, a move that could have created one of the largest automotive entities globally and bolstered Nissan’s competitiveness against formidable rivals like Toyota Motor Corp. and emerging threats such as China’s BYD Co.

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However, in February, this proposed merger collapsed when the two traditional brands, finding themselves at odds over a fundamental power discrepancy, failed to finalize an agreement and officially separated.

Espinosa’s appointment is part of a broader management reorganization within the company. Guillaume Cartier, who has been with Nissan for nearly three decades and currently holds the position of chief performance officer, will expand his responsibilities to encompass global marketing and enhancing customer experience. Meanwhile, Eiichi Akashi, who serves as corporate vice president of vehicle planning and vehicle component engineering, will take over the role of chief technology officer from Kunio Nakaguro. Teiji Hirata will manage manufacturing and supply chain operations, succeeding Hideyuki Sakamoto. Jeremie Papin will continue serving as chief financial officer and has also been appointed as an executive officer.