The auto industry’s push into intelligent cars “is going to require a lot of work and a lot of investment that probably will need some partner,” said Espinosa, who will assume his new role on April 1. “I’m open to Honda or other partners as long as these partners are helping us drive the vision of the business.” 

Espinosa, who currently serves as Nissan’s chief planning officer, takes the helm at a critical time for the company. The collapse of talks for an agreement to combine with Honda under a single holding company—a deal that would have created one of the world’s biggest carmakers—has left the struggling manufacturer in need of a lifeline. Top of Espinosa’s to-do list will be to seek out collaborations to develop electric vehicles and technologies, part of a push to refresh the aging product lineup that’s behind the slump in sales.

That hints at the type of partner Nissan may pursue.

A tie-up with a traditional automaker could offer “some synergy” in terms of size, powertrain technology and investment in batteries, Espinosa told reporters in Atsugi city, near Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama. But “there’s another avenue, which is who should you partner with in order to develop this intelligent part of the future. There are some traits and some competencies that traditional OEMs don’t have,” he said, referring to original equipment manufacturers.

Taiwanese iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. previously expressed interest in buying French automaker Renault SA’s stake in Nissan. While Nissan is receptive to cooperating with the company also known as Foxconn, it sees more merit in partnering with a big tech firm, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.

Espinosa said he regrets not accelerating product development previously, while also warning that “changing a big company like Nissan is not an easy thing.” He reiterated the Japanese automaker’s plans to shorten the time it takes for a car to go from development to production to 30 months to 37 months, from the current 50 months to 52 months.

Revamped lineup

Nissan is set to roll out a number of new and refreshed models in fiscal 2025 and 2026 as it seeks to halt its financial free fall.

In North America, a new version of the compact sedan Sentra will be introduced later this year, and the U.S. and Canada will be the first markets to launch the new Leaf, which will be equipped with a port that enables charging at Tesla Inc.’s Supercharger network. It’s also set to start production of an unidentified new EV at its Canton, Mississippi, plant from late fiscal year 2027. 

In Europe, an electric variant of the Juke compact SUV will be launched in fiscal 2026. Meanwhile, in India, Nissan will introduce a multi-purpose vehicle in fiscal 2025 and a five-seat compact sports SUV in fiscal 2026 — both of which will be manufactured in Chennai. 

A mechanical engineer by training, Espinosa has overseen the future product and service portfolios for the Nissan and Infiniti brands worldwide. He lists the auto industry’s top challenges as electrification, connectivity and autonomous-driving technologies—three areas where Nissan has historically lagged.

Now, tasked with finding a way forward for the carmaker, Espinosa was realistic about the challenges he faces.

“A CEO is normally dealing with one or two major crises in his or her career,” he said. “I’m gonna have to deal with four or five at the same time. I have a turnaround to work on. I have a deep morale crisis in the company. I have deep transformational work to do.”