Nissan purges management to recover Honda deal
Nissan has fired its CEO, CTO and several senior managers in a move that will allow a renewed merger with Honda.
The deal collapsed last month after Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida objected to the company becoming a subsidiary of Honda, and the replacement of Uchida was a condition of restarting the merger process. He is being replaced by Ivan Espinosa, currently the chief planning officer, as president and CEO. Espinosa joined Nissan Mexico in 2003.
The move is “to achieve the company’s short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth,” said the company.
The collapse of the merger with Honda saw Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn interested in a deal, while the Japanese government has been keen to keep its leading global automotive brands in the country in the same way it has supported the development of Rapidus for a leading edge semiconductor wafer fab which is set to ship 2nm chips in June.
This also comes at a time of a major shift in technology to software defined vehicle and driverless cars where the CTO role is essential.
Eiichi Akashi, currently corporate vice president (CVP) of the Vehicle Planning and Vehicle Component Engineering Division, will become chief technology officer and executive officer, succeeding Kunio Nakaguro.
- Nissan tests driverless van for commercial service next year.
- Honda brings software defined vehicle business into the mainstream
- Honda looks to first commercial driverless car in 2026
Guillaume Cartier, chief performance officer and chairperson of the Management Committee for Europe (AMIEO), will have an expanded role that includes global marketing and customer experience.
In addition to Nakaguro and Uchida, manufacturing chief Hideyuki Sakamoto, Asako Hoshino, Chief Brand & Customer Officer, and Hideaki Watanabe, Chief Strategy & Corporate Affairs Officer, are also stepping down from April 1st.
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