Mexican gets top Nissan job
Nissan has named Ivan Espinosa, a two-decade company veteran, as its next chief executive officer.
The appointment on March 11 of the 46-year-old, who is a Mexican national and the company’s chief planning officer, ends weeks of speculation over Makoto Uchida’s successor.
Espinosa’s promotion kicks in on April 1. He first joined Japan's third-largest carmaker in Mexico in 2003 and has also held positions in Europe and south-east Asia.
Uchida had faced mounting pressure to step down following Nissan’s worsening earnings and the collapse of recent merger talks with Honda.
It’s unclear whether Espinosa’s appointment, part of a broader shake-up of Nissan’s top management, will put the merger talks back on the table or possibly open a pathway for investment from another partner.
Nissan has been badly hit in key markets such as China, where domestic marques have eaten away at its market share, and in the US where its line-up is ageing.
Espinosa, pictured, has experience in product planning and development. He has also managed Nissan’s global product strategy and portfolio.
He has been in his current role since April 2024, a position he took up as part of a shake-up aimed at speeding up the company’s shift to electric cars.
“We can unlock a lot of possibilities,” he said, declining to comment on possibly restarting talks with Honda.
Nissan’s chairman, Yasushi Kimura, said the nomination committee had narrowed down the possible candidates to a handful of people.
Other senior Nissan executives stepping down include chief technology officer Kunio Nakaguro and Hideyuki Sakamoto, who oversees manufacturing and supply-chain management.
The company has suffered years of faltering sales and management turmoil. It has never fully recovered from the 2018 ouster of ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was accused by Tokyo prosecutors of financial misconduct.
Executive committee changes
Nissan has unveiled significant changes to its executive committee, which will report to Espinosa from April.
Guillaume Cartier, chief performance officer and chairman of the management committee for AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania), will have an expanded role that includes global marketing and customer experience.
Eiichi Akashi, corporate vice-president (CVP) of the vehicle planning and vehicle component engineering division, will become chief technology officer and executive officer, succeeding Kunio Nakaguro.
Teiji Hirata, currently CVP of vehicle production engineering and development division, will take on the roles of chief monozukuri (production) officer and executive officer, responsible for manufacturing and supply-chain management and succeeding Hideyuki Sakamoto.
Jeremy Papin, chief financial officer, is also appointed executive officer. Stephen Ma, chairman of the management committee for China, Mitsuro Antoku, chief quality officer, and Toru Ihara, chief HR officer, will continue in their current roles.
Uchida and Sakamoto will retain their positions of director until the annual general meeting of shareholders planned for June.
Shohei Yamazaki, chair of the management committee for Japan-ASEAN (states in south-east Asia), will have an expanded role that includes oversight of affiliate companies.
Christian Meunier, chair of the management committee for the Americas, will continue in his current position.
Tatsuzo Tomita, currently the CVP of product development number two, will succeed Akashi’s research-and-development responsibilities and will also take on the additional role of chief of total delivered cost transformation, reporting to Espinosa.
Manabu Sakane, currently CVP of purchasing, will become chief of strategy acceleration, also reporting to the CEO.
Asako Hoshino, chief brand and customer officer, Hideaki Watanabe, chief strategy and corporate affairs officer, will step down from their current roles on March 31.
