Nissan appoints Mexican CEO in times of great challenges

Nissan appoints Mexican CEO in times of great challenges

Nissan announced on Tuesday that Ivan Espinosa, Chief Planning Officer of the company, will take the lead from April 1. This ends a phase of speculation about who will follow Makoto Uchida as the chief of the battered Japanese automobile manufacturer.

challenges for Nissan

uchida was under pressure to step down after the winnings of the third largest automobile manufacturer Japan continued and fusion talks with Honda ( hmc ). It remains unclear whether Espinosa's appointment will lead to these discussions reopened or the possibility of an investment is opened by another partner.

Who is Ivan Espinosa?

Espinosa, a Mexican citizen who came to Nissan in 2003, spent a large part of his career in Mexico, but also held positions in Southeast Asia and Europe. He was responsible for product planning and development initiatives and led the global product strategy and the company's portfolio. Since April 2024 he has been wearing his current post, which he has taken over as part of restructuring, which aims to accelerate the change of the company into electric vehicles.

positive reactions to the appointment

"He is a very passionate product man," said Christopher Richter, auto -analyst at the brokerage CLSA. "I think there is a good signal that Nissan wants to give product development a higher priority. The Nissan brand was in the swamp for a long time and didn't stand much, so it could be interesting to take a strong product manager at the top."

past and future of Nissan

Nissan has been struggling with declining sales and internal turbulence for years and has never completely recovered from the consequences of the removal of former chairman Carlos Ghosn in 2018. Ghosn was charged by the public prosecutors in Tokyo for financial misconduct.

In the current financial year until the end of March, Nissan has already corrected his profit forecast three times. Almost all established automobile brands are faced with the competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers who mixed up the industry with elegant, software -rich cars. At the same time, Nissan has to struggle with major problems, such as the missing market launch of hybrids in the USA and the turbulence according to Ghosn's resignation. In addition, there are potential tariffs on the vehicles exported from Mexico to the USA, an important production location.