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Nissan Motor is considering replacing its chief executive Makoto Uchida following a worsening in the Japanese automaker's business performance and the collapse of talks to combine with Honda Motor, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the matter.

Nissan directors are checking interest in potential candidates to succeed Uchida, who has been CEO since late 2019, Bloomberg News cited one of the people as saying. A Nissan representative declined to comment on the report.

Shares of Nissan were up 3.7 percent in morning trade in Tokyo, outperforming a flat Nikkei index

Nissan and Honda ended merger talks to forge a US$60 billion (HK$468 billion) car company earlier this month. The deal, which the automakers had been discussing since December, was ultimately sunk by Honda's proposal to make Nissan a subsidiary, sources have said.

Uchida told a press conference after announcing the termination of merger talks that ending Nissan's malaise was the most pressing issue, after which he would be willing to bow out.

Reuters reported in December that Uchida was under pressure to deliver a turnaround with the next few months seen as critical for him and the automaker.

REUTERS

AFP

Nissan considers replacing CEO Uchida, Bloomberg News says