Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida will step down from his position on April 1, with current Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa set to take up the role. Espinosa will be Nissan's fourth CEO in eight years. The leadership shakeup comes less than a month after Nissan and Honda terminated merger talks.

Nissan on Tuesday named Ivan Espinosa its next chief executive, tapping the two-decade company veteran with deep product experience to revive a once-storied brand now tarnished by years of scandal, management turmoil and faltering sales.

The departure of Makoto Uchida as CEO could reignite merger talks with Honda that collapsed under his tenure. It has been reported in Japan that Uchida’s failure to secure a mer