'Poor Performance' Nissan Japan President Steps Down... Successor is Foreign Head of Product Planning

"Renegotiation of Merger with Honda Also Under Consideration"

The board of directors of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in Japan, which has been experiencing poor performance, decided on the 11th to dismiss President Makoto Uchida at the end of this month, according to NHK and Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Uchida Makoto, President of Nissan Motor Company. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Ivan Espinosa, Nissan's head of product planning, will succeed President Uchida. Espinosa, originally from Mexico, joined Nissan Mexico in 2003 and has been in charge of global product planning since 2018.

Nissan is expected to record a loss of approximately 80 billion yen (about 79 billion KRW) in the fiscal year 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025) due to poor sales performance in the United States, China, and other markets.

Accordingly, Nissan's board judged that the management responsibility of President Uchida was significant and that replacing the president was appropriate.

Earlier, Nissan and Honda had been discussing since December last year a plan to integrate management by making both companies subsidiaries of a holding company, but the merger was canceled last month due to disagreements over Nissan's restructuring plans and the integration system.

The Nikkei reported, "(Nissan) aims to renew its management system and reorganize," adding, "Although the management integration talks with Honda broke down, Nissan is considering seeking renegotiation."

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