ReutersNissan Motor's incoming chief executive officer said he's open to pursing a partnership with Honda Motor, the Japanese peer his carmaker tried to combine with before talks broke down last month.
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," Ivan Espinosa, who assumes his new role on April 1, said Wednesday. "I'm open to Honda or other partners, as long as these partners are helping us drive the vision of the business." Nissan tapped Espinosa, 46, to take over its top job at a critical juncture. The Japanese carmaker has braced investors for a third annual net loss in the last six years, sales are slumping and negotiations with Honda fell apart last month under outgoing CEO Makoto Uchida.
The top items on Espinosa's to-do list will be to seek collaborations with companies that would help Nissan develop electric vehicles and refresh the aging car lineup costing the company share in major markets including the US and China.
A tie-up with a traditional automaker could offer "some synergy" in terms of size, powertrain technology and battery investment, Espinosa told reporters in Atsugi, near Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama.
"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.
Taiwanese iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. has expressed interest in buying French automaker Renault SA's stake in Nissan. Although 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, who's been chief planning officer since April of last year, said he regrets not accelerating product development previously. "Changing a big company like Nissan is not an easy thing," he said.
He reiterated the Japanese automaker's plan to shorten the time it takes for a car to go from development to production to as few as 30 months, from as many as 52 months.
Nissan will roll out a number of new and refreshed models in its next two fiscal years.
In North America, a new version of the Sentra compact sedan will be introduced later this year, and the US and Canada will be the first markets to launch the new Leaf, which will be equipped with a port for plugging in at Tesla's Superchargers.
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," Ivan Espinosa, who assumes his new role on April 1, said Wednesday. "I'm open to Honda or other partners, as long as these partners are helping us drive the vision of the business." Nissan tapped Espinosa, 46, to take over its top job at a critical juncture. The Japanese carmaker has braced investors for a third annual net loss in the last six years, sales are slumping and negotiations with Honda fell apart last month under outgoing CEO Makoto Uchida.
The top items on Espinosa's to-do list will be to seek collaborations with companies that would help Nissan develop electric vehicles and refresh the aging car lineup costing the company share in major markets including the US and China.
A tie-up with a traditional automaker could offer "some synergy" in terms of size, powertrain technology and battery investment, Espinosa told reporters in Atsugi, near Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama.
"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.
Taiwanese iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. has expressed interest in buying French automaker Renault SA's stake in Nissan. Although 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, who's been chief planning officer since April of last year, said he regrets not accelerating product development previously. "Changing a big company like Nissan is not an easy thing," he said.
He reiterated the Japanese automaker's plan to shorten the time it takes for a car to go from development to production to as few as 30 months, from as many as 52 months.
Nissan will roll out a number of new and refreshed models in its next two fiscal years.
In North America, a new version of the Sentra compact sedan will be introduced later this year, and the US and Canada will be the first markets to launch the new Leaf, which will be equipped with a port for plugging in at Tesla's Superchargers.
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