Makoto Uchida

Makoto Uchida
Born	Makoto Uchida 20 7, 1966
Birthplace	Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Business executive
Title	CEO of Nissan Motor Company (2019–2025)
Known for	Leading Nissan Motor Company as CEO during a period of corporate crisis and attempted restructuring
Education	Doshisha University

Makoto Uchida (Template:Lang, Uchida Makoto; born July 20, 1966) is a Japanese business executive who served as the president and chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Company from December 2019 until March 2025. Appointed in the turbulent aftermath of the arrest and ouster of former chairman Carlos Ghosn, Uchida inherited one of the most challenging leadership positions in the global automotive industry: stabilizing a company rocked by scandal, declining profits, and fractured alliances. His tenure was defined by efforts to restructure Nissan's operations, navigate the transition toward electrification, and manage the automaker's complex partnership with Renault. A relatively unknown figure outside of Nissan at the time of his appointment, Uchida had spent much of his career in the company's operations in China and other international markets before being elevated to the top role. He stepped down from the position on April 1, 2025, and was succeeded by Ivan Espinosa, Nissan's chief planning officer.

Early Life

Makoto Uchida was born on July 20, 1966, in Japan. Public information about his early childhood and family background is limited. He pursued his higher education at Doshisha University, a private university in Kyoto, Japan, one of the country's well-established academic institutions.

After completing his university studies, Uchida embarked on a career that would take him through various international postings in the automotive sector. Before joining Nissan, he worked in trading and business development roles that gave him experience in global commerce. His career trajectory was notable for its international scope, including significant time spent in markets outside of Japan, which would later prove instrumental in his rise within Nissan's corporate hierarchy.

Education

Uchida attended Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, where he completed his undergraduate studies. Doshisha, founded in 1875, is a prominent private research university known for its programs in commerce, law, and liberal arts. Details regarding Uchida's specific field of study have not been widely documented in public sources, though his subsequent career in international trade and the automotive industry suggests a background in business or commercial disciplines.

Career

Early Career and Rise at Nissan

Uchida joined Nissan Motor Company and over the course of his career held a series of positions with increasing responsibility across the company's global operations. He gained significant experience in Nissan's international businesses, including a prominent role overseeing operations in China, one of Nissan's most important markets. By the time of his appointment as CEO, Uchida held the rank of senior vice president and was serving as the head of Nissan's China operations, managing the joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corporation.

His work in China was considered notable, as the country represented one of the largest automotive markets in the world and was a critical source of revenue for Nissan. Managing the joint venture with Dongfeng required navigating complex regulatory requirements, competitive pressures from domestic Chinese brands, and the growing demand for electric vehicles in the Chinese market.

Appointment as CEO

On October 8, 2019, Nissan's board of directors announced that Uchida had been selected to serve as the company's next president and chief executive officer. The appointment came at an exceptionally difficult juncture for the company. Nissan had been in turmoil since the dramatic arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn in November 2018 on charges of financial misconduct, an event that sent shockwaves through the global automotive industry and exposed deep tensions within the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance.

The period between Ghosn's arrest and Uchida's appointment had seen considerable instability in Nissan's leadership. Hiroto Saikawa, who had initially succeeded Ghosn as CEO, was himself forced to resign in September 2019 amid revelations that he had received excess compensation. The company's board embarked on a search for new leadership that could restore credibility, steady the organization, and address a deteriorating financial performance.

Uchida was chosen alongside Ashwani Gupta, who was named chief operating officer, as part of a new leadership structure designed to bring stability and fresh direction to the company. At the time of his appointment, Uchida was relatively unknown outside of Nissan's internal circles, which some observers saw as both a strength and a limitation — he was untainted by the Ghosn-era controversies but also lacked the high public profile that might have been expected of a leader tasked with turning around one of Japan's largest automakers.

Uchida officially assumed the role of CEO in December 2019.

Tenure as CEO (2019–2025)

Restructuring and the Nissan NEXT Transformation Plan

Upon taking office, Uchida faced the immediate challenge of reversing Nissan's declining financial performance. Under the Ghosn era, Nissan had pursued aggressive expansion and volume-driven sales strategies that, while boosting short-term numbers, had eroded profitability and brand value. Uchida articulated a new strategic direction that prioritized sustainable growth over raw sales volume.

In May 2020, Nissan announced its "Nissan NEXT" transformation plan, a comprehensive restructuring initiative that aimed to reduce costs, rationalize the company's global production capacity, and focus resources on core markets and technologies. The plan called for significant reductions in production capacity and the discontinuation of certain vehicle models in underperforming markets.

In an interview discussing the strategy, Uchida emphasized the need for Nissan to focus on quality of sales rather than quantity, and to invest in electrification and advanced technologies that would position the company for long-term competitiveness. The plan represented a departure from the growth-at-all-costs approach that had characterized the Ghosn years and reflected a more cautious, financially disciplined philosophy.

Managing the Alliance with Renault

A central element of Uchida's tenure was the management of Nissan's complex relationship with French automaker Renault. The Nissan-Renault alliance, originally forged in 1999 under Ghosn's leadership, had been a source of tension for years, with Nissan executives chafing at Renault's 43% ownership stake in Nissan while Nissan held only a 15% non-voting stake in Renault. The power imbalance had been a major source of the corporate discord that preceded Ghosn's arrest.

Under Uchida's leadership, Nissan negotiated a restructuring of the alliance's cross-shareholding arrangement. In a landmark agreement reached in 2023, Renault agreed to reduce its stake in Nissan to 15%, bringing the relationship closer to parity. This rebalancing was seen as a significant achievement for Nissan's corporate independence, though it also raised questions about the future depth and effectiveness of the partnership.

Financial Challenges and Declining Performance

Despite the restructuring efforts under the Nissan NEXT plan, the company continued to face significant headwinds during Uchida's tenure. The COVID-19 pandemic, which struck shortly after Uchida took office, disrupted global supply chains, forced temporary factory closures, and suppressed demand across key markets. While the automotive industry broadly recovered from the pandemic's initial impact, Nissan's recovery was slower and less robust than that of some competitors.

By the latter part of Uchida's tenure, Nissan's financial results had deteriorated further. The company reported substantial losses, and its competitive position in key segments — including the rapidly growing electric vehicle market — was under increasing pressure from both traditional rivals and new entrants from China and elsewhere.

Failed Honda Merger Negotiations

In a move that underscored the severity of Nissan's challenges, discussions emerged regarding a potential merger or deeper partnership with Honda Motor Company. The negotiations, which took place in the latter part of Uchida's tenure, represented an acknowledgment that Nissan might need a more transformative structural change to secure its future in an increasingly competitive and capital-intensive industry.

However, the merger discussions with Honda ultimately failed to produce an agreement. The collapse of the Honda merger talks was widely reported as a significant factor in the subsequent leadership changes at Nissan. WardsAuto characterized Uchida's departure in the context of the failed merger, reporting that Nissan "ousted" its CEO following the unsuccessful negotiations.

Departure from Nissan

On March 11, 2025, Nissan announced that Uchida would step down as president and CEO effective April 1, 2025. The company announced that Ivan Espinosa, who had been serving as Nissan's chief planning officer since April 2024 and had spent more than two decades at the company, would succeed Uchida as representative executive officer, president, and CEO.

The leadership transition was part of a broader C-suite shakeup at Nissan in which five executives stepped down. AP News reported that Uchida was "relinquishing the post after the company reported" significant financial losses. Carscoops reported on Uchida's departure in the context of his failure "to secure the automaker's future."

In May 2025, Kyodo News reported that four former Nissan top executives, including Uchida, received a combined total of 646 million yen (approximately $4.5 million) in severance pay. The disclosure of the severance payments drew attention given Nissan's ongoing financial difficulties at the time.

Post-CEO Period

Following his departure from the CEO role on April 1, 2025, Uchida's successor Ivan Espinosa began implementing new strategies for Nissan's turnaround. Reuters reported in May 2025 that Espinosa was "doubling his predecessor's" restructuring targets, suggesting that the new leadership viewed Uchida's transformation efforts as insufficient in scope.

Personal Life

Makoto Uchida has maintained a relatively private personal life throughout his career. Public information about his family and personal interests is limited. During his tenure as CEO, he was based at Nissan's global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.

Throughout his career at Nissan, Uchida was noted for his international experience, having lived and worked in multiple countries as part of his various assignments within the company's global operations, most notably in China.

Legacy

Makoto Uchida's tenure as Nissan's CEO is likely to be evaluated in the context of the extraordinarily difficult circumstances he inherited and the ongoing challenges the company faced during his approximately five years in the role. He took charge of a company reeling from one of the most dramatic corporate scandals in recent Japanese business history and attempted to chart a path toward recovery through the Nissan NEXT restructuring plan and a rebalancing of the Renault alliance.

Proponents of his leadership could point to the successful restructuring of the Renault cross-shareholding arrangement, which addressed a longstanding source of corporate tension and gave Nissan greater autonomy. The Nissan NEXT plan also represented a meaningful shift in corporate philosophy away from the volume-driven approach of the Ghosn era.

However, the financial results during his tenure tell a more challenging story. Nissan continued to struggle with declining sales, loss of market share in key segments, and an inability to keep pace with the rapid transformation of the automotive industry toward electric vehicles and new mobility technologies. The failure of the Honda merger negotiations and the broader C-suite shakeup that accompanied his departure suggested that Nissan's board and stakeholders concluded that a more dramatic change in leadership and strategy was necessary.

Reuters' characterization of Espinosa's strategy as "doubling" Uchida's restructuring targets indicated that the scale of Nissan's problems exceeded what Uchida's plans had been designed to address. The severance payments received by Uchida and other departing executives also became a point of public scrutiny, given the company's precarious financial position.

Uchida's legacy at Nissan ultimately reflects the broader challenges facing traditional Japanese automakers in an era of rapid technological disruption, intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers, and shifting consumer preferences. His tenure illustrated both the complexity of corporate turnarounds in the global automotive industry and the limits of incremental restructuring in the face of structural industry change.