Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida has been replaced by chief planning officer Ivan Espinosa as part of a wide-reaching overhaul of the Japanese firm's leadership team, aimed at reversing a period of sustained decline.
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", says Nissan, and is accompanied by a number of other top-level management changes.
Espinosa's appointment – effective 1 April – ends weeks of speculation as to who would replace Uchida amid one of the most turbulent periods in Nissan's 91-year history. 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: "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."
Slumping sales, increased global competition and huge global losses have put Nissan in a fight for survival, exacerbated by the recent breakdown of talks over a merger deal with long-time rival Honda, which would have provided the crucial investment Nissan needs, while allowing for huge savings in collaborative product development and production.
Reports suggest officials were reticent to back a Honda proposal that would have effectively made Nissan a wholly owned subsidiary.
However, it is possible that talks could be rekindled following Uchida's exit, and a Nissan source has 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 go so far as to confirm talks with Honda would now be restarted following his exit, but said 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".
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