Nissan operations chief Gupta to leave board, company says

By Daniel Leussink and Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) -Nissan's Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta will not be reappointed to the board when his term expires next month, the automaker said on Friday, casting doubt on the future of the high-profile executive who had been seen in the running for CEO.

The departure from the board of directors of the former long-time Renault SA executive comes as Nissan is working to finalise the terms of a sweeping reset of its decades-old alliance with the French car maker by mid-year.

Gupta joined Nissan's leadership team in late 2019, when Japan's No.3 automaker was looking to put an end to a period of turmoil triggered by the arrest and sacking of long-time leader Carlos Ghosn.

Allies of Gupta pressed the board in 2020 to promote him to the role of co-CEO, hoping he would drive the company's turnaround and improve its relationship with Renault, but the promotion did not materialise.

Nissan said on Friday Gupta would step down from the board of directors on June 27.

A company spokesperson said it was not immediately clear whether he will be staying on in his role as chief operating officer.

In a wider shake-up of its board, Nissan nominated IBM veteran Brenda Harvey as an outside director and disclosed it would bring back the total number of board members to 10 from 12, changes that are still subject to shareholder approval.

Apart from Gupta, two others - outside directors Jenifer Rogers and Masakazu Toyoda - were set to step down from the board. Chief Executive Makoto Uchida was proposed for reappointment as a director on the board.

Gupta joined Renault in India in 2006 and later became vice president in charge of its global commercial vehicle business, a job he held until 2019 when he joined the alliance's junior partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

Nissan and Renault agreed in January to remake their often strained alliance, with Renault reducing its stake in Nissan to 15% from about 43% to put them on equal footing.

Shares in Nissan closed up 5.3% on Friday, boosted by its robust sales forecast a day earlier for the current financial year.

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink, Elaine Lies and Maki ShirakiEditing by David Dolan and Elaine Hardcastle)