Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan announced on Tuesday that chief executive Makoto Uchida would step down, a move that follows the failure of merger talks with rival Honda.Ivan Espinosa, who will take the top job from April, told reporters he wanted to continue Uchida’s work “to help Nissan shine again”.”I sincerely believe that Nissan has so much more potential than what we are seeing today,” Espinosa said, adding that he would work “closely with our talented team worldwide to bring stability and growth back to the company”.Nissan says it expects an annual loss of more than $500 million this financial year, after announcing thousands of job cuts and reporting a 93 percent plunge in first-half net profit.Moody’s has downgraded Nissan’s credit rating to junk, citing its “weak profitability driven by slowing demand for its ageing model portfolio”. Fitch and S&P Global Ratings have also downgraded it to a speculative category.Last month, Nissan and Honda said they were scrapping merger talks that would have created the world’s third-biggest auto company by unit sales behind Toyota and Volkswagen.The discussions — seen as a way to catch up to US titan Tesla and Chinese firms on electric vehicles — are believed to have unravelled after Honda proposed making Nissan a subsidiary instead of an initial plan to integrate under a new holding company.However, media reports have since said Honda could be prepared to revive negotiations under a different Nissan boss.And Honda’s president Toshihiro Mibe has said the two automakers would continue to seek “synergy” through a strategic partnership announced in August that also includes Nissan’s junior partner Mitsubishi Motors.- ‘Real car guy’ -Espinosa joined Nissan in Mexico in 2003 and held posts in Southeast Asia before becoming a director for Mexico and Latin America in 2010.”Given that I am unable to gain the confidence of some of our employees, and as the board made a request, I concluded that… making a fresh start will be in the best interests of Nissan,” Uchida said.He described Espinosa as a “real car guy” who is “still in his 40s and full of energy”.”I am counting on him to overcome the difficulties and strongly drive Nissan to the future,” Uchida said.The Nikkei Business weekly magazine, citing unidentified Nissan sources, has reported Nissan would likely re-consider investment from Honda under its new leadership, but “not in the form of becoming its full subsidiary”.Nissan is also eyeing a four-way cooperation that would include Taiwanese chip behemoth Foxconn as well as Mitsubishi Motors, the Nikkei Business report said.Foxconn is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and builds devices for major tech companies, including Apple’s iPhones.It has recently been pushing into areas ranging from electric vehicles to semiconductors and servers.A source close to the matter told AFP on Tuesday that after the merger talks failed, Uchida had “called for opening new discussions with potential partners” to survive in the global market.”For Nissan to become stronger, it must find a partner in the markets that are its priority,” the source said.Tatsuo Yoshida, senior auto industry analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said that Nissan choosing a new CEO was a “key step” to address its urgent challenges.”Espinosa’s product strategy expertise allows the firm to tackle its lack of competitive models. However, securing cash and financial stability remain critical, demanding swift action from the new leadership,” he said.

China on Tuesday concluded one of its biggest political events of the year with a call to “struggle unrelentingly” for the country’s rise after a conclave dominated by a deepening confrontation with the United States, its largest trading partner.Nearly 3,000 delegates congregated in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on a dusty Tuesday afternoon before President Xi Jinping entered to the sound of rousing martial music.Senior Communist Party official Li Hongzhong then kicked off proceedings, standing in for NPC Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji, whose absence was attributed to a “respiratory infection”.Li presided over a series of votes on legislative documents and wrapped up the conference with a call to “struggle unrelentingly for the great endeavour of the rejuvenation of the Chinese people”. “Let us unite even more closely around the Party centre with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core!” he said, receiving rapturous applause before a military band played the national anthem.The NPC is China’s top legislature and usually meets for around a week each spring alongside the country’s main political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.The conclave is meticulously choreographed, with voting tightly controlled and legislation pre-approved by the party.Delegates on Tuesday almost unanimously approved work reports from the national government, supreme court and top public prosecutor.They also greenlit resolutions on central and local budgets, economic development plans, and an amendment to the lawmakers’ law — with only a handful of votes in opposition.”The meeting has successfully completed each item on the agenda (and) fully carried forward democracy,” Li said in his closing remarks.Representatives “strictly handled affairs in accordance with the law, clarified targets and tasks, and transmitted confidence and strength,” he said.- Uncertain world -The most closely watched moments of the conclave came last week, when Premier Li Qiang delivered the annual government work report.He announced an ambitious economic growth target of “around five percent” — matching last year’s goal but still a far cry from the double-digit figures that powered China’s rise.China has struggled to sustain a strong recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic, with its vast economy groaning under a prolonged property sector crisis, chronically low consumption, and high youth unemployment.Beijing faces further headwinds with the return of US President Donald Trump, who has slapped punitive import tariffs on a range of Chinese products as part of a brewing trade war that Beijing has pledged to fight “to the end”.Zheng Yueming, a delegate from Shandong province, told reporters after the voting that he had faith in China’s economy, though he admitted there were “difficulties every year”.”I believe we will have growth in new areas that can tamp down some difficulties,” he said.But Liu Yiyan, from Shanghai, said it was necessary to pass corresponding legislation on new technologies like autonomous driving and AI as companies like DeepSeek became more mature.  “I think there will be much promotion of these … technological breakthroughs, so relevant legislation should follow,” she said.The work report vowed to make domestic demand the “main engine and anchor” of growth, adding that Beijing should “move faster to address inadequate domestic demand, particularly insufficient consumption”.In a rare move, Premier Li also said China would hike its fiscal deficit by one percentage point to its highest level in well over a decade, giving Beijing more latitude to tackle the slowdown.Culture minister Sun Yeli on Tuesday hailed a modest revival in China’s tourism sector, saying changes in consumer demand were due to the “modernisation process and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards”.”In the past, people valued the practical value of products, but now they value their cultural qualities and their aesthetic and emotional value,” he said on the sidelines of Tuesday’s meeting.Also last week, China announced a 7.2 percent increase to its defence budget this year — the same percentage as 2024 — as Beijing rapidly modernises its armed forces amid intensifying strategic competition with the United States.