- Nissan’s boss believes aggressive sales targets hurt quality.
- The new plan is to stop relying so heavily on rental car sales.
- Nissan aims to make a comeback by improving quality and introducing new models.
A little more than a year into the job, Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa is leading sweeping changes at the troubled Japanese automaker. Massive cost-cutting plans are underway, calling for the elimination of around 20,000 jobs and the closure of seven factories and two design studios. The company is also reducing annual production capacity from 3.5 million to 2.5 million units and reducing the number of platforms from 13 to only 7.
The Re:Nissan recovery plan also calls for bringing new vehicles to market much sooner than before. Under the new strategy, the development time for the next-generation model will be reduced from 52 to 37 months, while the development time for later derivatives will be reduced from 50 to 30 months. Perhaps the most important element of the recovery effort has been to renew the lineup by introducing myriad models across the main Nissan brand and the Infiniti luxury division.
While these actions are intended to pave the way for a better future, Espinosa is also looking at what went wrong under previous leadership. in an interview with reutersHe didn’t mince words, saying that Nissan’s heavy reliance on rental car sales in the United States had backfired. The company once prioritized sales volume above everything else, but that strategy ultimately damaged Nissan’s image:
Photo by: Nissan
‘At first, it was like, OK, we want, volume, volume, volume. This is not a good way to run a car company.
Many new models of Nissan are coming
Nissan’s leadership now admits that aggressive volume chasing due to its association with rental fleets cheapened the brand. In the future, Espinosa said he would like Nissan to “stay away” from the rental car market in an effort to improve its poor reputation. CEO and president from April 2025, the 47-year-old Mexican executive wants to get Nissan back on track in North America by renewing the lineup and improving quality.
Looking ahead, there are many reasons to be optimistic. According to Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan America, the Xterra is officially returning as a body-on-frame SUV with a starting price of less than $40,000. It’s not likely to go on sale before the 2028 model year and will offer both the already confirmed V6 gas engine and a V6 hybrid setup.
Meanwhile, Japan’s new Skyline will be officially revealed this winter and will be followed by an upgraded Infiniti counterpart for North America later. Elsewhere in the lineup, the Rogue Hybrid e-Power is coming for the 2027 model year as a range-extended EV, with a small turbocharged three-cylinder engine producing power while electric motors drive the wheels.
Photos: Nissan
Photos: Nissan
Motor1’s Opinion: There’s a lot going on at Nissan these days, and we haven’t even mentioned a potential tie-up with Honda after the two companies failed to merge last year. Espinosa appears to be an active person as well as an enthusiast who drives the Z daily. He’s also talked about bringing back the Silvia and the GT-R, which would give sports-car fans plenty to look forward to.
It seems like Nissan is doing a lot of the right things to become a leaner and more competitive automaker. It’s launching a ton of new products, eliminating underperforming models, accelerating growth, and implementing drastic but necessary cost-cutting measures. The results of these structural changes will not appear overnight; It will probably take a few years to determine whether Nissan made the right move.
