Effective April 1, the board of directors has approved titles and areas of responsibility for the representative executive officer and executive officers. Ivan Espinosa, currently the chief planning officer, has been appointed as the representative executive officer, president, and CEO, succeeding Makoto Uchida.

A leadership shakeup at Nissan could revive stalled merger talks with Honda, as the struggling automaker weighs its future.

Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan announced on Tuesday that chief executive Makoto Uchida would step down, a move that follows the failure of merger talks with rival Honda.