Nissan board meets to decide fate of CEO Uchida

Nissan's board of directors will meet on Tuesday to discuss potential successors to CEO Makoto Uchida, who is under pressure to step down due to the Japanese automaker's worsening earnings performance and failed merger talks with Honda.

His position has become untenable but it is not certain he will immediately depart, people familiar with the matter said.

A new CEO, who would be Nissan's fourth in less than six years, could also serve in an interim capacity while the board searches for a permanent replacement.

Potential successors include CFO Jeremie Papin, chief planning officer Ivan Espinosa and chief performance officer Guillaume Cartier, according to sources and Japanese media reports.

A Nissan representative declined to say whether the company plans to hold a press conference or put out a press release after the board meeting.

Nissan has been beset by years of faltering sales and management turmoil, never fully recovering from a hit to its brand after the 2018 ouster of former chair Carlos Ghosn, who was accused by Tokyo prosecutors of financial misconduct.

During the financial year to end-March, Nissan has cut its profit forecast no less than three times.

As part of Uchida's efforts to turn around Japan's No 3 automaker, he announced in November plans for thousands of job cuts and reductions in production capacity. He has flagged that an update on its restructuring could come around this time.

The turnaround plan calls for the closure of a factory in Thailand and two other unspecified plants.

Nissan does not plan to close any of its five car assembly plants in Japan, Kyodo News reported on Monday.

Nearly all legacy auto brands are having to contend with Chinese EV makers, which have upended the industry with sleek software-rich cars. But Nissan is also struggling to overcome deeper problems such as its failure to launch hybrids in the US and the turmoil left in the wake of Ghosn's exit.

Additionally, it faces potential tariffs on vehicles it exports to the US from Mexico, a major manufacturing hub.

Nissan's main shareholder Renault was ready to support its long-standing alliance partner in the difficult times it was experiencing, its chair Jean-Dominique Senard said on Monday.

Without detailing what Renault could do to support Nissan, Senard, who serves as vice chair of Nissan's board, told French radio the automaker was open to Nissan creating new partnerships as long as Renault had no problem with them.

Uchida said last month ending the malaise the company is facing was the most pressing issue, after which he would be willing to bow out.

A change at the top would come weeks after Uchida and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe broke off merger talks.

A combination would have created the world's fourth-largest automaker, but sources said the discussions unravelled due to insufficient alarm on Nissan's part about its predicament and Honda's abrupt proposal that Nissan become its subsidiary.

There has also been speculation  Nissan could look to partner with Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, which has a nascent electric vehicle business headed by former Nissan executive Jun Seki.

Seki has been mentioned by domestic media as a potential successor if Nissan were to tie up with Honda, Foxconn and Mitsubishi Motors through a four-way deal.