Shareholders At Nissan Are Seeking Drastic Changes

Nissan Motor shareholders voiced their frustrations over the carmaker’s poor results at an annual meeting on Tuesday, with some demanding greater accountability from management for the deepening crisis at Japan’s third-largest carmaker.

The meeting was new boss Ivan Espinosa’s first since replacing Makoto Uchida as CEO in April. It remains to be seen whether Espinosa, a company veteran, will be able to halt Nissan’s steep decline.

Shares have declined by approximately 36% over the past year, and dividend payments have been suspended. Nissan reported a net loss of $4.5 billion in its last financial year and has no guarantee of returning to profit this year. It has so far declined to issue a full-year earnings forecast and estimated a first-quarter loss of 200 billion yen ($1.38 billion).

Espinosa outlined plans for major job cuts, including closing seven plants and eliminating a total of 20,000 jobs, or about 15% of Nissan’s workforce.

One shareholder accused management of trying to “shift their responsibility onto frontline workers” by cutting jobs while keeping their positions. Management should also face change or risk losing the trust of the company’s shareholders and employees, the shareholder said. Another shareholder complained about the dividend cut.

• Also See: Nissan Is Thinking About Shutting Down Operations Overseas And In Japan