Nissan Motor Co. could tap a former executive to lead its hopeful renaissance.
The automaker is considering Jun Seki to orchestrate a financial turnaround and possibly get a derailed merger with Honda Motor Co. back on track, a person familiar with the plan told Automotive News. Seki was among a trio of leaders who took over Nissan in the wake of the 2018 arrest of then-Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Seki is chief electric vehicle strategy officer at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the Taiwan manufacturer of iPhones also known as Foxconn. Hon Hai is interested in partnering with Nissan to diversify from contract manufacturing to building a consumer brand and retail business.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida is expected to step down, having failed to execute on multiple business turnaround plans. Some blame Uchida’s slow pace at making reforms for the breakdown of merger talks with Honda.
“Nissan is realizing that drastic action is needed as is a strong leader to drive it,” said the person, who asked not to be identified because the CEO search discussions are private.
The Nissan board’s nomination committee will discuss succession at its next meeting March 11.
A spokesperson for the automaker declined to comment on speculation about the CEO search.
Several names have surfaced for the job.
Japanese magazine Diamond Online reported that Nissan plans to install CFO Jeremie Papin, a former Nissan Americas chairman, as interim CEO while it hunts for a permanent successor to Uchida.
While Papin is the favorite for the interim job, the source said veteran executive Hideyuki Sakamoto, Nissan’s manufacturing and purchasing boss, is a long shot.
Diamond reported that Nissan Chief Performance Officer Guillaume Cartier is under consideration, but the source said he is unlikely to take it.
Seki as a dark horse
Seki is a known entity inside Nissan, having spent three decades at the automaker, including a stint running its key China business.
He was tapped to lead a business turnaround at Nissan at the start of the pandemic and was even on the shortlist for the CEO job before being passed over for Uchida.
Crucially, Seki worked at Nissan alliance partner Renault and was viewed by the French automaker as an ally while at Nissan.
“If the nationalists at Nissan insist on having a Japanese top executive, given their penchant for recycling former top leaders, a likely choice for CEO is Seki,” the person said.
Seki could assemble a new alliance joining his current and former companies with Honda.
Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu told reporters Feb. 12 that his company is interested in partnering with Nissan but not acquiring the company. Some Nissan directors are open to it.
A Honda spokesperson said the company had not been officially approached by Foxconn with such a proposal but is not opposed in principle, depending on the structure.
Seki is equipped to manage the internal politics and opposition in a potential Nissan-Honda alliance.
“Seki is an insider who can get the very rebellious R&D and manufacturing guys aligned,” the person said.
However, he left Nissan on a fractious note and has his detractors inside the automaker.
In 2020, Seki resigned just weeks into his new job as Nissan’s vice COO after being recruited by supplier Nidec to help the motor-maker become a major player in components for next-generation vehicles.
“Many at Nissan see him as disloyal because he left the company abruptly,” the person said.
Seki’s tenure at Nidec was short-lived. He was demoted in June 2021 after the company’s founder expressed dissatisfaction with its performance and stock price.
Cartier, Papin as favorites
Cartier’s long tenure at Nissan and business operating experience across major markets make him a strong contender for the CEO job.
Cartier spent more than 25 years within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance after joining Nissan in his native France. He rose to head of sales and marketing for Nissan Europe in 2013 before becoming Mitsubishi Motors’ head of sales and marketing in Tokyo.
Cartier also led Nissan’s regional operation covering Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania.
Papin became CFO on Jan. 1 after Stephen Ma stepped down as part of an emergency management shuffle.
Papin is viewed as Renault’s pick “to be the guardian of its interest in Nissan,” the person said. “Perhaps his major deliverable will be to get Honda to take over Nissan and allow Renault to exit its stake with a decent value for its 36 percent.”
Papin joined Nissan North America as CFO in 2018, following a three-year stint leading strategy and business development at Renault.
In 2021, Papin was elevated from vice chairman of Nissan North America and given oversight for the automaker’s operations across the Americas.
The executive juggled the pandemic and a laundry list of supply-chain crises early in his stint overseeing the key U.S. market. But Nissan struggled with market traction under Papin’s watch because of product launch delays, oversupply and a failure to judge demand for hybrid vehicles.
Nissan Group’s U.S. share fell to 5.8 percent last year, down 2.1 percentage points from five years earlier.
