By Maki Shiraki, Daniel Leussink and Norihiko Shirouzu
TOKYO (Reuters) -Nissan directors are due to gather on March 11 to discuss potential successors for CEO Makoto Uchida, whose position is seen as increasingly untenable given the Japanese automaker’s weak performance, three people familiar with the matter said.
Candidates being considered include Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Papin and Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa, one of the people and a fourth person said, but neither are seen as a certainty, especially considering their association with current management missteps.
The next CEO could be installed as a temporary or transition leader, an option that would give the board more time to find a permanent replacement, the fourth person said.
The people declined to be identified because the information has not been made public. A Nissan representative declined to comment. The March 11 meeting date was first reported by Kyodo.
Uchida’s potential ouster follows the collapse of talks to merge with Honda, a development that has raised speculation about an investment from Taiwan’s Foxconn, where former Nissan executive Jun Seki heads the electric vehicle business.
The turmoil at the top of Nissan is the latest turn in a long-running drama that was sparked by the ouster of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 and would mean the fourth CEO in less than six years.
It also comes as Nissan is in a far more precarious position than in the past due to a worsening financial situation and looming debt commitments.
Nissan has previously had interim leaders. In 2019, the automaker installed company veteran Yasuhiro Yamauchi as interim CEO following the ouster of Ghosn’s successor Hiroto Saikawa.
The denouement for Uchida was first flagged by Reuters in December, when a source said that subsequent months would be critical for his and Nissan’s future.
Uchida has said that ending the malaise at Japan’s third-biggest automaker was the most pressing issue for him to tackle, after which he would be willing to bow out.
(Reporting by Maki Shiraki and Daniel Leussink in Tokyo and Norihiko Shirouzu in Austin, Texas; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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