Nissan Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

Nissan has announced that Jérémie Papin is stepping down from his position as Chief Financial Officer for personal reasons after just over a year in the role.

George Leondis, who has worked at the company for more than two decades, will succeed him in the role effective as of April 1. 

According to Nissan, George has been actively involved in the company’s financial recovery plan and has a global perspective of the company from experience in its key markets. 

Jérémie will remain with Nissan until mid May to lead the closing of its fiscal year 2025 and ensure a smooth transition between the two CFOs. 

Financial leadership at Nissan

Initially trained as a Chartered Accountant, George joined the company in 2004 as the Head of Finance for Nissan Australia. Since then, he has held senior leadership roles across the company in Europe, Hong Kong and Japan, managing a full breadth of key financial responsibilities for the business. 

In his current role, he leads global product and industrial operations control, partnership finance, and M&A.

Ivan Espinosa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan, says of the leadership transition: “I want to thank Jérémie for his leadership and for the discipline he helped embed during an important phase of our recovery. 

“He has played a key role in strengthening our financial foundation. Re:Nissan remains firmly on track, and with George’s deep involvement in the plan, we will ensure a smooth transition and continued execution.”

Developing Re:Nissan

Nissan developed its Re:Nissan recovery plan in May 2025 in order to address its financial challenges, with the company reporting a net loss of US$4.48bn for the 2024 fiscal year. 

The company said at the time it was aiming for a total cost saving of US$3.15bn in 2025, and a return to profitability by fiscal year 2026.

Re:Nissan centres on creating a leaner, more resilient business and restructuring global operations as part of efforts to reduce fixed and variable costs.

In May 2025, the company announced it was cutting 20,000 jobs and closing seven factories as part of this plan, which Ivan said was done to “prioritise self-improvement with greater urgency and speed, aiming for profitability that relies less on volume”. 

It focuses on creating a leaner, more resilient business through restructuring, cutting 20,000 jobs, reducing platform numbers, and enhancing competitiveness. 

Nissan announced its third quarter results in February 2026, which Jérémie said on LinkedIn “showed clear financial progress.”

The company reported a positive operating profit of US$111m and a projected full year operating loss of US$378m – lower than previous estimates. 

On LinkedIn, Jérémie said: “What matters most to me is how these numbers are being delivered. Fixed cost actions are ahead of the plan, variable cost initiatives are moving to implementation, and product momentum should support a recovery in volume.

Behind every line in these results is the work of teams across Nissan Motor Corporation. I want to thank colleagues around the world for their discipline, focus and persistence. That collective effort is what’s turning our strategy into real, measurable progress.”

Nissan has said the priorities under its recovery strategy “remain unchanged” with its CFO transition, as the company will continue to focus on developing sustainable growth and its product competitiveness.