New head for Nissan in boardroom shake-up

Nissan’s chief planning officer, Ivan Espinosa, has taken over as CEO of the Japanese company. He replaces former head, Makoto Uchida. It is all part of a major restructure for the ailing Japanese firm which has seen falling sales and rising costs.

Espinosa’s imminent appointment ends a period of speculation as to who would replace Uchida. 

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.”

Announcing his departure in a press conference, Uchida said: “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.”

Recent history

Slowing sales, increased competition and significant global losses have put Nissan in a difficult position. A recent breakdown of talks over a merger deal with Honda did little to improve the situation. 

Nissan officials were reluctant to back a Honda proposal that would have effectively made the company a wholly owned subsidiary. 

However, talks may resume under new management and, if so, Nissan may well agree to Honda’s investment terms.

Uchida said that Nissan is “exploring every opportunity…to enable our company to realise its mid- and long-term direction”. 

His replacement, Espinosa, refused to be drawn on the state of Nissan’s relationship with Honda.

Described by Uchida as a “real car guy” with “lots of energy”, Espinosa has been with Nissan since 2001. He became chief planning officer a year ago.

His first goal, in partnership with the new executive committee, will be to save $NZ4.5b in costs annually. Nissan is shuttering three factories before the end of next year, and is aiming to cut vehicle development times from 52 to 37 months.

New key models coming

Espinosa will also oversee the development of important new models like next-gen Qashqai and Juke, both of which will add BEV variants. 

The company is also set to launch an all-new Leaf (concept above) and Micra, both battery electric vehicles. Whether or not the new European city car based on Twingo goes ahead is unclear.

Apart from Uchida, others leaving Nissan in the board room cleanout include chief technology officer, Kunio Nakaguro, manufacturing and supply chain boss, Hideyuki Sakamoto, chief brand and customer officer, Asako Hoshino, and chief strategy and corporate affairs officer, Hideaki Watanabe.