Nissan CEO bows to pressure

Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa has resigned from the car manufacturer after admitting that he and other top Nissan executives were improperly overpaid.

Saikawa, who admitted to the overpayment of around $440,000, will be temporarily replaced by chief operating officer Yasuhiro Yamauchi, with a permanent replacement expected by the end of October, Japan’s second-largest automaker said.

Saikawa said he would return any excess funds he obtained from a stock-related payment plan and denied any wrongdoing.

Nissan board chairman, Yasushi Kimura, said that while the payments were not illegal, the stock appreciation rights program was “intentionally manipulated” to increase the amount of money executives could make from the program.

Addressing reporters, Saikawa expressed regret for his failure to turn around the firm which he has said had long chased market share at all costs under Ghosn’s tenure, undermining profitability.

"I had hoped to solve all of these issues before stepping down,” he said. “But I haven’t been able to, and for that, I apologize.”