(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. is overhauling its executive bench, seeking to bring in new talent to turn around the Japanese carmaker that's facing eroding profits, mounting debt and a dearth of revenue-generating products.
Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida will remain in place, while Jeremie Papin becomes chief financial officer effective Jan. 1. He will be replaced as head of Nissan Americas by Christian Meunier, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Current CFO Stephen Ma will be transferred to head operations in China.
The changes come about a month after Nissan announced huge losses in profit owing to poor sales in the US and China. The brand's inability to roll out attractive cars — namely hybrid gas-electric models and battery-electric vehicles — triggered a sharp drop in income, forcing it to cut 9,000 jobs, lower production capacity by a fifth and cut its annual operating profit forecast by 70%.
“This is a provisional measure — not a drastic change — made to help it ride out the current situation,” said Bloomberg Intelligence senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. “But Nissan's struggle is about leadership, products, sales strategy and other fundamental issues that can't be solved by simply changing the CFO.”
Papin has been chair of Nissan Americas since April 2021, according to the company's website. He was appointed to the executive board last year and most recently served as vice chair of its North America business. Before joining Nissan, he was involved in Nissan's alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Co.
In his new role, Meunier will report to Guillaume Cartier, the newly appointed chief performance officer. Meunier comes to Nissan from Stellantis NV, where he was the top executive for Jeep. Prior to that, he worked at Nissan across several roles including sales and marketing in North America, head of operations in Canada and Brazil, and he chaired luxury brand Infiniti. He left Stellantis about a year ago.
Nissan hasn't had a chief operating officer since Ashwani Gupta left the carmaker last year.
Asako Hoshino, head of Japan and Southeast Asia, will be replaced by Shohei Yamazaki, who previously oversaw China operations.
All of the management changes will take effect Jan. 1, Nissan said.
Uchida took the helm in late 2019 following the shock arrest and ouster of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who had orchestrated Nissan's turnaround more than two decades ago by cutting inefficient suppliers and introducing a spate of new models.
That progress has been undercut by Nissan's latest struggles, which were largely triggered by bloated dealership incentives and an outdated product lineup that dulled its competitive edge in almost every major market.
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