Nissan’s CEO claims substantial cost-cutting initiative will rejuvenate the ailing car manufacturer.

Ivan Espinosa, chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Co., speaks during an interview at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on Thursday, May 15, 2025.

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Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa on Wednesday stated that the immediate priority is to stabilize the struggling automaker as it undergoes significant restructuring efforts.

“I think in the short term, the focus that we have is to fix ourselves,” Espinosa told a news program.

“We are convinced that the plan is enough and robust,” he added.

Espinosa, who assumed leadership of the Japanese automaker in April, faces significant challenges in revitalizing Nissan’s diminished fortunes. The company has been experiencing declining sales, transitioning toward electric vehicles, and facing intense global competition, especially from Chinese rivals. These issues have now been intensified by recent tariffs on steel and aluminum, along with other reciprocal levies on specific countries, which are briefly reduced under a temporary reprieve set to expire in July.

Last month, Espinosa announced the company’s intention to cut 11,000 jobs and close seven plants, amid projections of a 3% decline in sales volumes for the current fiscal year.

At the end of last year, there were discussions about a potential partnership with Japanese peer Honda, which could have resulted in the creation of the world’s third-largest automaker by sales; however, those negotiations stalled in February.

“The size of the task is big,” Espinosa said. “Our landing was not good in 2024, and thus we have a transformation that has to come. But this is a problem that did not start just two years ago; it’s a fundamental issue that we’re addressing. If you take a step back, eight to ten years ago, the company had very ambitious growth goals.”

Nissan’s management had aimed for annual sales of 8 million vehicles and invested heavily in capacity, human resources, and capital expenditure. Ultimately, however, the company peaked at annual sales of 5.6 million in 2016, and it is currently operating at sales of 3.3 million to 3.4 million vehicles annually, according to Espinosa.

“We are re-sizing the company, and this is why we have accelerated our efforts on costs, both fixed and variable. We have initiated deep changes under our new Re:Nissan plan and we’re fully committed to it,” Espinosa said.

Tokyo-listed shares of Nissan are down 24% year-to-date.