Espinosa takes the helm at Nissan as board reshuffles executive team

The Nissan Motor Company’s board of directors have terminated chief executive Makoto Uchida and four more senior executives in a bid to turn the struggling manufacturer around. 

Effective April 1, chief planning officer, Ivan Espinosa has been appointed as the representative executive officer, president, and chief executive, succeeding Uchida.

Reporting to Espinosa effective April 1, Guillaume Cartier, chief performance officer and chairperson of the management committee for AMIEO, will have an expanded role that includes global marketing and customer experience.

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.

Teiji Hirata, currently CVP of the Vehicle Production Engineering and Development Division, will take on the role of chief monozukuri officer and executive officer, responsible for Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, succeeding Hideyuki Sakamoto.

Jeremy Papin, chief financial officer, is also appointed executive officer.

Stephen Ma, chairperson 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 position of director until the annual general meeting of shareholders planned for June. Chief Brand & Customer Officer and Hideaki Watanabe, Chief Strategy & Corporate Affairs Officer will step down from their roles on March 31.

Further management appointments

Shohei Yamazaki, chairperson of the Management Committee for Japan-ASEAN, will have an expanded role that includes oversight of affiliate companies.

Christian Meunier, chairperson of the Management Committee for the Americas, will continue in his current position.

Tatsuzo Tomita, currently the CVP of Product Development No. 2, will succeed Akashi’s R&D responsibilities and will also take on the additional role of chief of Total Delivered Cost (TdC) Transformation, reporting to Espinosa.

Manabu Sakane, currently CVP of Purchasing, will become chief of Strategy Acceleration, reporting to Espinosa.