Not a great start
Despite being revered as a symbol of a new direction for the automaker, newly appointed Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa didn’t exactly get a warm welcome at his first annual shareholder meeting since taking the position. On June 24, he found himself at the center of a three-hour public cross-examination at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, as frustrated investors didn’t hold back their feelings of disappointment in front of the automaker’s top brass.
In Japan, annual shareholder meetings are events, as they are a semi-public opportunity for retail investors to trade words face-to-face with executives. However, Nissan’s was expected to be twice as lively.
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Espinosa faced his first public grilling
As Makoto Uchida’s successor, Espinosa faces a massive challenge in front of him. Previously, Nissan reported a massive loss of ¥671 billion ($4.6 billion) for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which ended in March. To make matters worse, the automaker announced during the meeting that it anticipates an additional loss of ¥200 billion ($1.38 billion) for the first quarter of the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which raised numerous questions and demands for answers from shareholders.
According to reports by Kyodo News, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Automotive News, the meeting quickly turned into a forum on Nissan’s past mistakes and future direction, as every topic from failed partnerships to job cuts was on the table. Many shareholders grilled the top brass about the abrupt breakdown of Nissan’s merger talks with Honda, a potentially game-changing move that fell apart.
To add a cherry on top, Uchida sat alongside Nissan brass at the meeting, which made him a target for angry shareholders who demanded answers about the lack of dividends in contrast to the departed exec’s massive payouts, of which Uchida declined to respond. Others expressed their anger about the board’s lack of accountability, especially after news broke that former executives, including former CEO Uchida, received large ‘gold parachute’ payouts despite the company’s dismal performance. In total, Uchida and four other executives who departed in the March management shuffle that installed Espinosa as new CEO, received a combined payout of ¥646 million ($4.3 million) for leaving the company.
“Many demanded answers from Uchida and asked what the point of his attendance was if he was refusing to answer any questions,” said Tsuyoshi Maruki, CEO of Strategic Capital Inc., an activist investor, told Kyodo News. However, he praised Espinosa, noting that he had a calm demeanor amidst the rowdiness, adding, “We’ll just have to anticipate good results from now on.”
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“I was not convinced by their explanation,” a 76-year-old Nissan investor told Kyodo. He states that he’s been a loyal Nissan driver for half a century, and stated, “They were just putting it all on the workers and firing them.”
Another major source of frustration came from Espinosa’s ambitious ‘Re:Nissan’ restructuring plan, which includes shutting down seven factories and cutting about 20,000 jobs. Per Reuters, one shareholder bluntly accused the board of “shifting responsibility to frontline workers” by cutting jobs while protecting their own positions, adding that the board should likewise face a shake-up or risk losing the trust of shareholders and company employees.
Despite the anger in the room, Espinosa addressed the tough questions. “We understand your frustration,” he said to attendees. “It will not be easy to deliver. But I am confident that we have what we need to rebuild our company.” He reassured that Nissan still has ¥2.1 trillion (~$14.5 billion) in unused credit lines and promised to restore profitability by the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
Final thoughts
Since taking the helm on April 1, Espinosa has been given the tallest of tasks. Steering the storied Japanese automaker back on the right track won’t be easy, as Nissan has a lot of debt, and the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported vehicles and parts could throw a monkey wrench in their books this fiscal year.
However, recent developments, including its Renault share sale, as well as plans to possibly sell its $700 million Yokohama headquarters, show that Espinosa is clearly in cleanup mode and is not afraid to explore all avenues to trim the fat. Shareholders and analysts may be harsh now, but they may be more forgiving, depending on his progress.
