He has been at the helm of Nissan since 2019. But now the pressure from the board and the economy is so great that the director wants to fire himself.
Monday morning may have started with some news from the automotive industry. It is reported that Nissan's CEO will be firing himself.
Makoto Uchida, who has managed the car brand since 2019, is now so pressured by the board of directors and an economy heading towards a billion-dollar deficit that he would rather resign.
This is reported by Nikkei Business .
According to the same media outlet, the Nissan board has already begun considering alternatives to Makoto Uchida, because it was under him that a merger with Honda fell through.
At the same time, the Japanese government is reportedly putting pressure on Honda to work with Nissan anyway. The government is very keen for foreign investors to get involved.
Nissan CEO considering firing himself after Honda exit
But the foreign interest is there. Even though Tesla has denied any interest in Nissan, something that otherwise caused the Japanese company's stock to rise sharply, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is said to be after the car brand.
The director in Taiwan has publicly said he is keeping an eye on the possibility. However, he denies that Foxconn wants to take control of Nissan. Instead, the director says 'a collaboration should be on the table'.
It is rumored that Foxconn may use Nissan to strengthen the company's own Automotive division. But how much is actually in the story is still far too early to say anything real.
Information from Nissan suggests that the merger is still possible, but this time it is Honda that dictates the terms.
Initially, Nissan avoided a merger that could have made them the world's third-largest car company because management did not want to accept becoming a subdivision of Honda's business.
– We don't know if it will be a wholly owned subsidiary situation, but discussions will probably move towards accepting an investment from Honda, a Nissan source tells Nikkei Business.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Nissan management called Honda's demands for a merger completely insane when negotiations first began.
However, something has to happen if Nissan is to survive. What looked like a huge profit just before the New Year has now turned into expectations of a huge deficit of at least 3.8 billion kroner in the 2025 financial year.
To patch the worst holes in the economy, the director has already accepted a 50 percent pay cut.
Just like 9,000 ordinary employees are to be laid off. In addition, several factory closures have been discussed. A factory in England is already running at half capacity. Read more about it here .