Nissan held its annual shareholders meeting on June 24, 2025, and it quickly turned chaotic. Angry shareholders shouted and criticized the management for not clearly showing how they plan to fix the company’s worsening business. The meeting followed a record $6.7 billion loss and a failed merger with Honda.
Nissan's new recovery plan, called “Re:Nissan,” reminds many of the old 1999 “Revival Plan” by former CEO Carlos Ghosn, which successfully saved the company back then. However, shareholders say the new plan lacks clear details, speed, and strong leadership. Unlike Ghosn’s bold and specific actions, Nissan’s current CEO, Ivan Espinosa, hasn’t named most of the factories to be shut down or promised solid goals. There’s also no clear commitment to turning profits quickly—his plan allows two years to break even, compared to Ghosn’s one-year goal.
Critics also worry that Nissan has no strong new cars lined up to boost sales. The delay in offering hybrids in North America hurt the company, and there’s doubt about Espinosa’s background in product strategy. Meanwhile, the company’s internal culture also seems slow to change. Despite the crisis, executives received big retirement payouts, and some directors kept their roles despite past failures.
Some say Honda pulled out of merger talks because they were frustrated with Nissan’s lack of urgency and weak restructuring. Now, with ongoing struggles in North America and China and no clear future product lineup, many shareholders feel Nissan has too many problems and too little urgency. The path to rebuilding Nissan looks long and uncertain.
by MagazineKey4532