TOKYO -- Nissan has appointed Jeremie Papin as its new chief financial officer, replacing Stephen Ma, in a significant management overhaul aimed at revitalizing the company.
The announcement, made in the United States, comes as Nissan grapples with challenges in the U.S. market, which is increasingly dominated by competitors such as Tesla, Toyota, and Ford. Last month, the automaker announced a reduction of 9,000 jobs, approximately 6% of its global workforce, and a 20% cut in global production capacity after reporting a quarterly loss of 9.3 billion yen ($61 million). This marks a stark contrast to the 190.7 billion yen profit recorded in the same quarter the previous year.
Sales for the quarter ending September dropped to 2.9 trillion yen ($19 billion) from 3.1 trillion yen. In response to the poor performance, Chief Executive Makoto Uchida has taken a 50% pay cut and emphasized the need for greater operational efficiency and responsiveness to market trends and rising costs.
Uchida stated, 'These executive changes reflect the experience and urgency needed to get the company back on track.' Papin, who has a background in strategy and investment banking, is expected to lead the recovery efforts.
Papin, a dual citizen of the U.S. and France, has been with Nissan since 2023 and previously held positions at Renault and major financial institutions including Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers. Effective January 1, Christian Meunier, former CEO of Jeep, will return to Nissan as chairman of the Americas Management Committee.
Other management changes are anticipated in April as Nissan seeks to streamline its organizational structure to better adapt to market dynamics. Recently, Fitch Ratings downgraded Nissan's outlook from stable to negative, citing concerns over its North American performance.
Nissan's stock has seen a significant decline over the past six months, dropping from around 500 yen ($3.30) to approximately 360 yen ($2.40).