Nissan operations chief Ashwani Gupta to leave company

16 June 2023 - 10:24 By Reuters
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Gupta joined the company's leadership team in late 2019, when Japan's No. 3 carmaker was looking to put an end to a period of turmoil triggered by the arrest and sacking of long-time leader Carlos Ghosn.
Gupta joined the company's leadership team in late 2019, when Japan's No. 3 carmaker was looking to put an end to a period of turmoil triggered by the arrest and sacking of long-time leader Carlos Ghosn.
Image: Shoko Takayasu/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Nissan Motor's COO Ashwani Gupta will leave the Japanese carmaker later this month to pursue other opportunities after helping to steer a turnaround plan aimed at streamlining operations, the company said on Friday.

Nissan plans to announce a new executive line-up on June 27, coinciding with his departure, it said.

The carmaker said last month the former long-time Renault executive would step down from the board of directors on June 27 when his term expired, casting doubt on his future as he had been seen as a front-runner to be the next CEO.

Gupta joined the company's leadership team in late 2019, when Japan's No. 3 carmaker was looking to put an end to a period of turmoil triggered by the arrest and sacking of long-time leader Carlos Ghosn.

Allies of Gupta pressed the board in 2020 to promote him to the role of co-CEO, hoping he would push forward Nissan's turnaround and boost its alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, but the promotion did not materialise.

Nissan is working to finalise the terms of a sweeping reset of its decades-old alliance with Renault.

Gupta had clashed with Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida over Uchida's desire to close the negotiations with Renault quickly, with Gupta urging more caution over terms of the deal, people with knowledge of the talks have told Reuters.

The company on Friday said Gupta had taken key leadership positions and been a “driving force” in various alliance projects over several years resulting in many achievements. It did not further detail the accomplishments.

Gupta joined Renault in India in 2006 and later became vice-president in charge of its global commercial vehicle business, a job he held until 2019 when he moved to junior alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors.


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