ATSUGI, Japan (AP) 鈥� The chief-executive-to-be at money-losing Japanese automaker Nissan is determined to speed up decision-making to come up with models that say Nissan 鈥� and really sell.
at Nissan Motor Corp., told reporters in embargoed comments for Wednesday that the company's corporate culture is 鈥渓acking empathy鈥� and has to change.
鈥淲e need to work together as one single team,鈥� he said at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi city on the outskirts of Tokyo. 鈥淲e need to work together hand in hand.鈥�
Nissan recently appointed Espinosa to take its helm, effective April 1, replacing Makoto Uchida.
Espinosa has his work cut out for him as the maker of the Sentra sedan and Infiniti luxury cars faces yet another crisis, which began decades ago when Carlos Ghosn was sent in by French alliance partner Renault to save it from the brink of bankruptcy.
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when Ghosn鈥檚 successor stepped down after
Espinosa expressed an openness to partnerships, including with parties outside the auto industry, although he declined to give specifics.
. They will continue to cooperate on technology development.
Espinosa repeatedly came back to the importance of being nimble. New cars will be developed in 37 months, and offshoot models within 30 months, he said.
Auto production, starting with design and culminating in product tests, takes several years. Bringing a product to market in 30 months would be relatively quick for the industry.
To showcase , Nissan showed an array of models rolling out in the next two years for the U.S., Europe, Japan and other markets, some of them as mockup models.
Espinosa and other officials promised a lineup that highlights Nissan鈥檚 legacy, like the Leaf electric car, and models that sell in greater volumes. It鈥檚 also bringing out various , and .
When announcing his replacement, Uchida called Espinosa 鈥渁 car guy.鈥�
Espinosa, who drives a , said he saw himself as 鈥渁 car lover.鈥� He loves the stories behind each car, he said, like how it鈥檚 developed and becomes loved by customers.
Analysts have so far taken a cautious approach to Espinosa鈥檚 appointment. As an insider, he takes up where Uchida left off, meaning the verdict is still out.
鈥淲e view it as unlikely that Nissan would be open to becoming a subsidiary of Honda at this time, at least until the board has time to assess the effectiveness of Espinosa鈥檚 strategy, once it is unveiled and put into action,鈥� CreditSights analysts Todd Duvick and Will Lee wrote in a recent commentary.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads:
Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press
