Nissan president and CEO Makoto Uchida will be replaced by Ivan Espinosa on April 1 as part of a wide-reaching overhaul of the company’s leadership team that sees a number of other top-level management changes. This seems to be the fallout of the failed Honda-Nissan merger talks.
- Nissan’s leadership team sees many new members
- Honda-Nissan MoU to co-develop EVs is still in effect
New Nissan top management changes
Espinosa’s appointment – elevated from his role as Nissan’s chief planning officer – is part of a drive to “achieve the company’s short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth,” according to Nissan.
Other appointments include Eiichi Akashi as chief technology officer, Teiji Hirata as chief monozukuri officer (responsible for manufacturing and supply chain management), and expanded roles for Guillaume Cartier (chief performance officer) and Jeremie Papin (chief financial officer).
Honda-Nissan merger talks fallout
Honda-Nissan to continue collaboration on EVs despite merger talks end
The Japanese brand has been going through one of the most turbulent times in its storied 91-year history. Its Alliance with Renault has been on shaky ground since the ousting of Carlos Ghosn in 2018. However, last year, Nissan made ground with fellow Japanese company Honda, having first signed an MoU to jointly develop EVs in March 2024 and then another to discuss the possibility of a merger that could include Mitsubishi. Combined, the Japanese companies have the potential to form the world’s fourth-largest car brand by sales.
However, reports started coming in at the start of 2025 that the merger talks were falling through, with Alliance partner Mitsubishi pulling out early. Reuters then reported that talks became even more difficult after Honda proposed that Nissan become its subsidiary, differing from their original plan of establishing a holding company. Finally, the companies officially announced the end of the merger talks in mid-February, which resulted in Honda shares rising by 8 percent, but Nissan’s falling by 4 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nonetheless, the two brands will continue collaborating on the development of autonomous driving tech and EVs.
Espinosa has not yet commented on restarting merger talks
When asked by a Nissan stakeholder to comment on the resumption of the talks with Honda on business integration, Nissan’s new president and CEO, Ivan Espinosa, said, “I would refrain from commenting on speculation at the moment. My immediate focus is to work with the team, get them engaged, and look forward into the future.”
Meanwhile, in a statement given to Reuters, Renault – which holds a 35.7 percent stake in Nissan – said that it was confident Espinosa will be keen to continue the relationship established between the two companies in recent years.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
