Thursday, January 23, 2020

GUPTA - NISSAN'S NEW GO-TO GUY by John Crawford

In a bold move aimed at recovering from the unravelling of the company caused by the Ghosn saga, Nissan Motor Company has finally done something right. It has announced the appointment of Ashwani Gupta as Chief Operating Officer (COO) reporting directly to CEO Makoto Uchida.

Gupta (right) is an impressive automotive executive with extensive experience managing various enterprises within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.

He has held posts in all three companies, and told the media he is a firm believer in the strength and future of the Alliance.

His career began, working for Nissan in India, in the mid-1990s before joining Renault in 2006 to establish both Nissan and Renault in the Indian market.

Facing Nissan’s rapidly declining sales and profits, Gupta is a man who knows the gravity of the problems facing Nissan and the Alliance, and finally establishes that Nissan recognises the true depth of the salvage job ahead.

Makoto Uchida
Uchida-san, a career Nissan executive, whom nobody seems to have heard of previously, was appointed CEO following the firing of Hiroto Saikawa.

He  may well be a Nissan veteran, but his lack of abilities to deal with the complex web have been revealed by the appointment of Ashwani Gupta. You could liken Uchida to a night watchman.

Whilst Gupta is no Carlos Ghosn, he has been witness to the work Ghosn did to turn Nissan around, and also in setting up the Alliance. He is clearly the best man for the tasks ahead.

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