Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan replaces CEO

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.

The company said the leadership change was meant to "achieve the company's short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth" but did not elaborate.

Ivan Espinosa has been chosen as representative executive officer in Uchida's place, Nissan said in a statement. The company will hold an online briefing later on Tuesday.

Espinosa joined Nissan in Mexico in 2003 and held posts in Southeast Asia before becoming a director for Mexico and Latin America in 2010. The change is effective April 1, Nissan said.

Nissan announced thousands of job cuts last year after reporting a 93 percent plunge in first-half net profit. It now expects an annual loss of more than $500 million.

The company and Honda announced last month 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.

Despite the scrapped talks, Honda's president Toshihiro Mibe has said the automakers would continue to seek "synergy" through a strategic partnership announced in August that also includes Nissan's junior partner Mitsubishi Motors.

After the failure of the merger talks in February, Uchida "called for opening new discussions with potential partners, because... we cannot do without a partner" to survive in the global market, a source close to the matter told AFP on Tuesday.

"For Nissan to become stronger, it must find a partner in the markets that are its priority," the source said.

The Nikkei Business weekly magazine, citing unidentified Nissan sources, has reported the company 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.

Ratings agency Moody's downgraded the credit rating of Nissan to junk last month, saying the decision "reflects Nissan's weak profitability driven by slowing demand for its ageing model portfolio".

Fitch and S&P Global Ratings followed suit, downgrading the Nissan credit rating to a speculative category.