Has China claimed its biggest scalp? Nissan boss fired, company's future in doubt as the growth of new auto giants such as BYD, SAIC and Geely and new US tariffs put the car brand between a rock and a hard place

Have new Chinese brands claimed their biggest scalp?

Speculation of Nissan’s collapse has hit fever pitch after its CEO was replaced this week.

Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s now former CEO, stepped down after years at the helm of the Japanese giant after he failed to secure the brand’s future with a new merger or partnership.

He is replaced by Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s Chief Planning Officer, who is the company’s fourth boss in six years following the dramatic ousting of former chief Carlos Ghosn.

The final nail in Uchida's tenure was the failed merger with Honda.

It fell over as Nissan wasn’t happy being a subsidiary of its former rival. Nissan wanted more sway within the merger and instead preferred to establish a joint holding company where Honda would appoint the majority of directors and the CEO but Nissan would keep some independence.

Honda was taking all the risk by absorbing the ailing Nissan and likely wasn’t willing to give into the junior partner.

Nissan had since announced a massive global cost cutting operation and has cut its profit forecast for the third time this financial year.

The Japanese automaker is aiming to cut vehicle production by 20 per cent by financial year 2026.

This would see its global production drop from 5 million to 4 million vehicles.

Nissan plans to axe 2500 indirect global staff and 6500 manufacturing jobs in the next two years.

It is expected to close three factories as part of the cost savings. UK publication Autocar even suggested the recently upgraded Sunderland plant isn't off the chopping block.

The problems facing Nissan are deep and are affecting all carmakers on a global level.

Nissan has been smashed in China with booming carmakers such as BYD gulping down market share from legacy brands in the world’s largest auto market.

The Japanese maker hasn’t been kicking as many goals in the US either, a market it has traditionally been strong in. This is expected to get worse as new tariffs imposed on cars imported from Mexico start to bite.

It doesn't have as comprehensive a range of electric cars and hybrids as others.

The growth of Chinese brands, not just in China but in many merging markets and developed markets such as Australia and the UK, will only make things harder for the brand.

Nissan bounced back in Australia in 2024, with sales rising by 15 per cent, but it has had a rocky start to the year.

Sales are down about 30 per cent during the first two months of this year. The Australian new car market has shrunk by only 5.4 per cent this year, which highlights Nissan’s struggles.

Key models such as the X-Trail mid-size SUV and Qashqai compact SUV haven’t lived up to last year’s performance, but a recent update to the Qashqai could help alleviate the stress on that model.

Nissan Australia also made the bold move to increase its warranty from a five-year/unlimited km guarantee to a 10 year/300,000km conditional warranty backdated to early 2021 to help bring in new buyers and retain existing customers.

Nissan has plenty of products in the pipeline to help boost sales in the next two years. The next-generation Patrol 4WD will arrive at the end of 2026 and the Nissan Ariya and Leaf electric cars will be here shortly.

A new Navara ute is also on the agenda along with updates for other models.