By Daniel Leussink
YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Nissan’s board of directors will meet on Tuesday to discuss potential successors to CEO Makoto Uchida, who is under pressure to step down due to the Japanese automaker’s worsening earnings performance and failed merger talks with Honda.
His position has become untenable but at the same time it’s not certain that he will immediately depart, people familiar with the matter have said.
A new CEO, who would be Nissan’s fourth in less than six years, could also serve in an interim capacity while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
Potential successors include Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Papin, Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa and Chief Performance Officer Guillaume Cartier, according to sources and Japanese media reports.
Nissan has been beset by years of faltering sales and management turmoil, never fully recovering from a hit to its brand following the 2018 ouster of former chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was accused by Tokyo prosecutors of financial misconduct.
During the current financial year to end-March, Nissan has cut its profit forecast no less than three times.
As part of Uchida’s efforts to turn around Japan’s No. 3 automaker, he announced in November plans for thousands of job cuts and reductions in production capacity. He has flagged that an update on its restructuring could come around this time.
The turnaround plan currently calls for the closure of a factory in Thailand and two other unspecified plants.
Nissan does not plan to close any of its five car assembly plants in Japan, Kyodo News reported on Monday.
Nearly all legacy auto brands are having to contend with Chinese EV makers, which have upended the industry with sleek software-rich cars. But Nissan is struggling to overcome deeper problems such as its failure to launch hybrids in the United States and the turmoil left in the wake of Ghosn’s exit.
It also faces potential tariffs on vehicles it exports to the U.S. from Mexico, a major manufacturing hub.
Uchida said last month that ending the malaise that the company is facing was the most pressing issue, after which he would be willing to bow out.
A change at the top would come just weeks after Uchida and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe broke off merger talks.
A combination would have created the world’s fourth-largest automaker but sources said the discussions unravelled due to insufficient alarm on Nissan’s part about its predicament and Honda’s abrupt proposal that Nissan become its subsidiary.
There has also been speculation that Nissan could look to partner with Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, which has a nascent electric vehicle business headed by former Nissan executive Jun Seki.
Seki has been mentioned by domestic media as a potential successor if Nissan were to tie up with Honda, Foxconn and Mitsubishi Motors through a four-way deal.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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