Nissan Chief Financial Officer Stephen Ma is set to step down from his position, people with knowledge of the matter said, marking yet another executive change at a challenging time for the Japanese carmaker.
It’s not clear whether Ma may be demoted or leave the company, said one person, asking not to be identified because the move hasn’t been announced. The change, which comes 17 months after Ashwani Gupta left as Nissan’s chief operating officer, follows an announcement last month that it will eliminate 9,000 jobs and cut a fifth of its manufacturing capacity.
As a result, CEO Makoto Uchida will be left as the sole top-level C-suite executive at a time when Nissan has drawn the attention of one of the most influential activist investors in Japan, Effissimo Capital Management. Although five years have passed since the dramatic arrest and ouster of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, the carmaker remains mired in management upheaval.