Nissan will not fill position left open by COO's departure

Nissan has decided to not fill the COO position vacated by Ashwani Gupta under a new management structure, the Japanese carmaker said on Wednesday.

Responsibilities previously carried out by the operations chief will be taken over by other executives, it said.

Hideyuki Sakamoto, executive vice-president in charge of manufacturing and supply chain management, will be responsible for purchasing. CFO Stephen Ma will take over operations performance duties.

“In response to the constantly evolving market conditions, we will introduce a flatter and agile leadership structure, which will further empower regional and functional leadership,” Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said in a statement.

Nissan said earlier this month Gupta would leave the Japanese carmaker to pursue other opportunities, following an announcement he would not be reappointed to the board of directors at the end of his term. His last day at Nissan was Tuesday.

Japan's No.3 carmaker is investigating accusations that Uchida carried out surveillance of Gupta, Reuters has reported.

Nissan is in the midst of finalising the terms of a sweeping reset of its decades-old alliance with Renault.

Gupta had clashed with 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.