Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan replaces CEO

TOKYO: Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan announced on Tuesday that chief executive Makoto Uchida would step down, a move that follows the failure of merger talks with rival Honda.

The company said the leadership change was meant to “achieve the company’s short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth” but did not elaborate.

Ivan Espinosa has been chosen as representative executive officer in Uchida’s place, Nissan said in a statement. The company will hold an online briefing later on Tuesday.

Espinosa joined Nissan in Mexico in 2003 and held posts in Southeast Asia before becoming a director for Mexico and Latin America in 2010. The change is effective April 1, Nissan said. Nissan announced thousands of job cuts last year after reporting a 93 per cent plunge in first-half net profit. It now expects an annual loss of more than $500 million.

The company and Honda announced last month they were scrapping merger talks that would have created the world’s third-biggest auto company by unit sales behind Toyota and Volkswagen.

The discussions -- seen as a way to catch up to US titan Tesla and Chinese firms on electric vehicles -- are believed to have unravelled after Honda proposed making Nissan a subsidiary instead of an initial plan to integrate under a new holding company.