Nissan's new CEO intends to slash its vehicle development time

By Daniel Leussink

ATSUGI, Japan (Reuters) - Nissan plans to dramatically chopped its car improvement clip to boost its competitiveness, the struggling automaker's incoming CEO Ivan Espinosa said connected Wednesday.

Japan's third-largest automaker presently takes astir 55 months to make a wholly caller vehicle.

"We are slow. This is 1 of the things we person to face," Espinosa, presently main readying officer, told reporters astatine an lawsuit astir its merchandise plans.

He said helium wants to chopped improvement for the archetypal car successful a household of cars to 37 months portion the 2nd car oregon 3rd car would instrumentality conscionable 30 months.

Espinosa, a two-decade institution seasoned known arsenic a passionate merchandise person, takes the helm connected April 1. He is expected to refocus the automaker's priorities connected processing vehicles much successful tune with customers' tastes arsenic helium seeks to steer the institution retired of a heavy income slump.

Nissan has respective gaps successful assorted markets, Espinosa said, adding that a cardinal portion of his imaginativeness was to person "five oregon six brand-oriented models" that would spell into arsenic galore markets arsenic possible.

"Models similar Patrol, models similar the Z, astir apt the Leaf, you know, cars that are truly describing what Nissan is about," helium said.

Underscoring the extent of its pain, Nissan has chopped its net estimates 3 times for the twelvemonth ending this month, has seen its indebtedness standing reduced to "junk" and risks losing its fertile arsenic Japan's No. 3 automaker to Suzuki.

It sold 3.3 cardinal vehicles worldwide past year, a tiny diminution from 2023 but lone 1 of galore with income down immoderate 40% since 2017.

In China, Nissan has been pushed to the sidelines by section brands specified arsenic BYD, portion successful the U.S., it has suffered from its nonaccomplishment to motorboat hybrids. It besides did not negociate to capitalise connected an aboriginal pb successful electrical vehicles.

As portion of Nissan's restructuring plans, the automaker has said it volition chopped 9,000 jobs, trim planetary capableness by 20%, adjacent a works successful Thailand by June and unopen 2 much plants that it has not identified.

Espinosa said the institution was considering further measures, but declined to springiness details.

New vehicles to beryllium offered successful North America successful the coming fiscal twelvemonth see a Leaf crossover - the third-generation of the world's archetypal mass-market electrical car primitively launched successful 2010 - arsenic good arsenic its archetypal plug-in hybrid, the Rogue SUV developed with Mitsubishi Motors.

The Leaf volition besides beryllium sold successful Japan and European markets successful the adjacent fiscal year.

Nissan besides plans to commencement producing an electrical SUV astatine its Canton, Mississippi works precocious successful the twelvemonth opening April 2027.