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Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida to step down after failed Honda merger talks

Makoto Uchida standing in a dark grey suit at a white desk with a Nissan corporate logo while holding a white binder

Nissan says its CEO Makoto Uchida will step down from his position after failed merger talks. (AFP: Yuichi Yamazaki)

In short:

Japanese automaker Nissan says its chief executive Makoto Uchida will step down from his role following the failure of merger talks with rival car manufacturing giant Honda.

The announcement came a month after the car manufacturers scrapped negotiations to create the world's third-largest automaker.

What's next?

Mr Uchida and multiple other Nissan executives are expected to step down from their roles and be replaced on March 31.

Japanese automaker Nissan has announced the departure of its chief executive Makoto Uchida after the failure of merger talks with rival car manufacturing giant Honda.

"The Board of Directors decided on 11 March 2025 to select Ivan Espinosa as the representative executive officer in place of Makoto Uchida," the firm said in a statement.

The company said the leadership changes were made to "achieve the company's short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth".

The company also announced that Eiichi Akashi, who is currently Nissan's corporate vice-president of the Vehicle Planning and Vehicle Component Engineering Division, will replace Kunio Nakaguro as chief technology officer and executive officer.

A silver Hondo logo car badge seen up close on the front of a red car

Nissan and Honda had been in merger talks since 2024. (Reuters: Kim Kyung-Hoon)

Nissan chief brand and customer officer Asako Hoshino and chief strategy and corporate affairs officer Hideaki Watanabe will also step down from their positions. The changes will take effect on March 31, Nissan says.

The announcements came a month after Nissan and Honda scrapped merger talks aimed at creating the world's third-largest automaker.

In December, the companies announced that negotiations were expected to end by June 2025 and a holding company could be set up by August 2026.

The firms' intention to join forces had been seen as a bid to catch up with US titan Tesla and Chinese firms in the electric vehicle market.

Honda's CEO insisted in December that it was not a bailout for Nissan, which announced last year thousands of job cuts after reporting a 93 per cent plunge in first-half net profit.

Japanese media have said the discussions unravelled after Honda proposed making its struggling rival a subsidiary instead of following a plan to integrate under a new holding company.

The automakers confirmed in the joint statement that Honda "proposed changing the structure from establishing a joint holding company … to a structure where Honda would be the parent company and Nissan the subsidiary through a share exchange".

At the time, the automakers said that the cancellation of the merger talks would have no impact on the earnings of both automakers.

Despite the scrapped talks, Honda's president Toshihiro Mibe has said the automakers will continue to seek "synergy" through a strategic partnership announced in August that also includes Nissan's junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors.

Mr Espinosa joined Nissan in Mexico in 2003 and had posts in South-East Asia before becoming a director for Mexico and Latin America in 2010.

AFP