Nissan CEO Fired After Failed Negotiations with Honda

Nissan makes headlines once again. The Japanese automaker increasingly resembles a sinking ship, unfortunately.

CEO Makoto Uchida of Nissan will step down on April 1st, making way for Ivan Espinosa, current head of planning. This announcement marks a delicate turning point for Nissan, which will thus see its fourth CEO in eight years take the helm. Besides Uchida, other key management figures will also leave their positions on the same date.

This change comes just a month after the failed merger talks between Nissan and Honda. This project, valued at $60 billion, would have created the third-largest automaker in the world by sales volume. However, it collapsed under the weight of accusations of “pride and denial” directed at Nissan, notably its categorical refusal to close factories. On the other side, Honda wanted to turn Nissan into a subsidiary while demanding drastic staff cuts, which led to the breakdown of negotiations, according to Reuters.

Nissan drifts towards the unknown

This cleverly masked purge as a series of resignations occurs as Nissan reports disastrous results. For the third quarter ending in December 2024, the manufacturer recorded a staggering 78% drop in operating profit compared to the previous year, with a net loss of 14.1 billion yen (95.7 million dollars). Nissan also revised its annual forecasts downward, now expecting a net loss of 80 billion yen by the end of March.

This bleak outlook reinforces the idea that, for many, an alliance with Honda was the last chance to turn things around. Meanwhile, from his exile in Lebanon, Carlos Ghosn, who has never hidden his hostility towards this project, must savor this disappointment like a connoisseur of industrial politics. At this rate, the Japanese giant seems to be sailing straight into even more troubled waters.

READ ALSO: Is Nissan committing Hara-Kiri by refusing the Honda merger?