Nissan paid $3.7 million to former chief operating officer for his departure

Nissan Motor (7201.T) paid $3.7 million in compensation to former COO Ashwani Gupta following his sudden departure last year, the Japanese automaker disclosed in a notice for its annual general meeting.

Nissan reported in the notice that it had paid 582 million yen ($3.7 million) to an executive officer who left his position during fiscal 2023. A company spokesman confirmed that Gupta was the only executive officer to leave during that period.

Japan's third-largest automaker by volume, had announced in May last year that Gupta, who had been chief operating officer since 2019 and was seen as a leading candidate to be the next CEO, would not be reappointed to the board.

Separately, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida told a news conference Friday that he would return 30% of his salary for three months starting in April after receiving a warning from Japan's competition regulator for underpaying suppliers.

The Subcontracting Law prohibits the ordering party from unilaterally reducing payment when the subcontractor is not at fault.

The regulator charged Nissan in March with violating Japan's Subcontracting Law by underpaying 36 suppliers a total of approximately 3 billion yen over a period of approximately two years from January 2021.

Nissan reported at the time that it had fully reimbursed suppliers for money it had unilaterally deducted. It also set up a unit under the CEO to gather feedback from suppliers and set up an external hotline for related issues, it said Friday.

Collaboration: Grupo Auge | Reuters (International).