The Nissan exec who wants to build an affordable sportscar is now the boss

Ivan Espinosa, the current product planning boss of Nissan, will soon become its new Big Boss, replacing CEO Makoto Uchida on 1 April. And… it’s bit of a surprise.

Espinosa himself couldn’t comment too much on the appointment because he only found out he was taking over the reins of the struggling Japanese carmaker at short notice.

Indeed, just last month Uchida-san revealed his big turnaround plan, but it clearly wasn’t enough to placate internal and external pressures. “I have been striving to improve Nissan’s performance,” he said, “however, since we unveiled the turnaround actions, people not only outside the company but also our employees started to question my responsibility.

“The top priority of Nissan today is to break away from the current situation as quickly as possible and bring the company back on the growth track.

“Given that I am unable to gain the confidence of some of our employees and that the board made a request, I concluded that transitioning to the new top management and making the fresh start will be in the best interest of Nissan.

“I am sure that Nissan will come back,” he added. Ouchy.

Espinosa said: “I grew up in Nissan. This journey has deepened my love for cars, my passion for the automotive industry and of course my passion for Nissan.

“I sincerely believe that Nissan has so much more potential than what we’re seeing today. I’m looking forward to build on the efforts of those who have come before me,” he added.

A while back, Espinosa told TopGear.com how he felt carmakers had forgotten about ‘the passion for cars’ and that younger buyers weren’t really being offered fun stuff. So his dream plan was to introduce something a little lower down the food chain.

“Maybe a smaller electric sportscar,” he told TG, “a bit more affordable.

“Depending on which point in time you take, we’ve always had the GT-R, we’ve always had Z, and we’ve always had an entry [level car] – either a hot hatch like Pulsar, or something else down there [at that price and performance point].

“And this today is something that we kind of miss. This [price and performance] point. This is one of the things that can make the flame come back again,” he added.

The petition to get an Affordable Sportscar on the top of his to-do list come 1 April starts here.