Nissan plans to unveil a major management shake-up in March and CEO Makota Uchida – blamed for blowing a proposed merger with Honda – appears likely to be one of those executives set to be replaced. Headlight.News has more.

Struggling to reverse collapsing sales and earnings, facing major layoffs and plant closures, and stung by the collapse of merger talks with Honda, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida appears to be in the crosshairs as Nissan prepares to announce a management shake-up on March 12, according to reports from Japan.

Uchida signaled the likelihood of big changes earlier this month during a quarterly earnings news conference. With Nissan rolling up even bigger losses, Uchida expanded upon the “emergency” plan he first revealed last autumn, confirming plans for thousands of job cuts and three plant closings. The CEO also said Nissan would reduce its executive ranks by 20%.

Uchida appears to retain a grip on his job, at least for now, according to reports by Reuters and some other news outlets, quoting inside Nissan sources. But others aren’t quite so confident, Bloomberg among the outlets reporting the embattled CEO “will be replaced.”

The back story

Nissan has been bouncing from one crisis to another ever since former CEO Carlos Ghosn was arrested in November 2018. But the situation has grown steadily worse over the last several years as Nissan has struggled to rebuild its reputation and come up with the right sort of products to counter plunging sales.

Based in Yokohama, Nissan experienced its second consecutive quarterly loss, with a 78% decline in operating profits for the three-month period running from October through December, at 31.1 billion yen, or $197.5 million dollars. The third quarter in the traditional Japanese fiscal year saw a net loss of 14.1 billion yen, or $89.5 million. Those figures were down from 141.6 billion yen and 29.1 billion yen, respectively, a year ago.

Last autumn Nissan’s CEO made it clear there would be a blood-letting when he announced he was launching an “emergency plan” expected to trim capacity and production and cost an estimated 9,000 jobs worldwide, But the details revealed this month went beyond those initial expectations.

Uchida could fall victim to his own sharp knife

The new plan will see three factories close, starting with one in Thailand, and other factories, including the big truck plant in Canton, Mississippi, will lose shifts as production is slashed to come in closer to current demand. There will be 2,500 job cuts in sales and administrative staffs globally. But the biggest reduction will come in manufacturing, an estimated, 6.500 jobs.

Among the new details: a 20% reduction in executive level staff.

How high up that goes is uncertain. Uchida, a 22-year Nissan veteran, has himself indicated a willingness to step down, if needed, though he also said he would lik

e to stay on until his turnaround plan starts to gain traction. But he may not have a choice, according to various sources and published reports.

“Nissan directors are gauging interest in potential candidates to replace Uchida,” reported Bloomberg.

“It’s only natural” for Uchida to go, Seiji Sugiura, a senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory, told Reuters. But he cautioned that such a big management change would be unlikely to result in a quick Nissan turnaround.

More Nissan News

• Honda-Nissan Merger Talks Collapse
• Honda Willing to Resume Merger Talks – if Nissan CEO Uchida Resigns
• Losses Worsening, Nissan “Emergency Plan” Grows More Dire

Bringing Honda back to the bargaining table

There could be one significant payoff were Uchida to be replaced. Various insiders have told Headlight.News that the CEO – who took over soon after Ghosn’s arrest – was a major factor in the breakdown of negotiations with Honda.

The two sides were considering a merger that would have forged a $60 billion colossus and helped them manage the substantial costs involved in developing technologies such as EVs, fuel-cell vehicles and autonomous vehicles.

There had been some talk Honda might attempt a hostile takeover of the larger automaker, a move subsequently ruled out by its CEO Toshihiro Mibe. But, earlier this month, Reuters said it was told by Honda officials they would consider reentering merger talks – if Nissan’s Uchida stepped down.

There’s no guarantee that would yield a breakthrough, however. There were a number of sticking points during the original negotiations, reported Japanese media. Among other things, Nissan resisted demands it give up its hybrid technology in favor of Honda’s. And there was a battle over which automaker would dominate the new entity, Honda making it clear from the start it expected to be running the new show, rather than Nissan.