What was changed
Ivan Espinosa became Nissan's fourth CEO in eight years in April 2025, days before US tariffs on Japanese cars jumped to 27.5% (later negotiated to 15%), inheriting the company's worst crisis in its 92-year history: the Honda merger had collapsed in February, revenue had grown just 0.4% between fiscal 2017 and 2025 while Toyota's grew 63%, and the company was losing money, customer appeal and market share. He told Fortune he put his plan together in about six weeks.
The Re:Nissan plan, unveiled in May 2025, is built on resizing: cut ¥500 billion ($3.1 billion) in costs, shed 20,000 jobs, and shrink from 17 plants to 10, aiming for operating profit by early 2027. Since then Nissan has announced the closure of its Kanagawa plant, operating since 1961, and sold facilities in South Africa and Mexico. A third pillar leans on partners — Renault and Dongfeng — for speed and scale instead of doing everything alone.
Speed shows up in the product machine: development time is down from four-and-a-half years to just over two, with clay models ditched for digital tools and AI-assisted design. In China, the Dongfeng-partnered N7 electric sedan was designed and engineered by Chinese teams in 24 months, priced from RMB 119,900 to fight domestic EV brands — by August 2025 monthly deliveries hit 10,148, and Espinosa says the car is profitable. In the US, local content reached about 58% of vehicles by end-2025, up from 45%, targeting 60% as a tariff shield.
What it achieved
Net loss narrowed ¥671B to ¥533B; targets ¥500B cost cuts, 20,000 jobs, 17 to 10 plants; China N7 profitable at 10,148 a month; ¥20B net profit seen for FY2026.
Why it worked
Previous management hoped rising sales volume would cover the cost base; Espinosa judged that obvious no longer — 'it was obvious you had to resize the company.'
Cutting from 17 plants to 10 and exiting South Africa and Mexico aligns manufacturing with a smaller, less volume-dependent sales base.
A China-built, China-priced EV restores the one-third of Nissan's business local rivals had taken, using the cost and speed of the local ecosystem.
Cultural fixes — the 'Call Me Ivan' channel, a cultural transformation program, celebrating new Elgrand, Leaf, Rogue and Z models — rebuild employee pride a restructuring alone would drain.
What can be applied
When volume can't cover your cost base, resize the company to the sales you actually have — and rebuild speed (24-month China-built EVs) so the smaller company can still win.
Aftermath
The last fiscal year, ended March 31, 2026, brought ¥12 trillion ($74 billion) revenue, down 5%, and a ¥533 billion net loss — narrower than the ¥671 billion loss the year before — and Nissan forecasts a modest ¥20 billion net profit for FY2026, its first in three years. Shareholders remain impatient: shares are down 45% over five years against gains for Honda and Toyota, and the June 2026 AGM rejected one independent director and saw a motion to bring Carlos Ghosn back. Espinosa admits the values haven't yet reached lower management.
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