Nissan Gets A New 'Car Guy' CEO

Good morning! It's Tuesday, March 11, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, meet Nissan's new CEO. Plus, Ford's German wing is facing bankruptcy, buyers are flocking to dealerships, and Southwest wants more of your money.

Nissan announced Monday it was looking internally for a new CEO to replace Makoto Uchida, and the votes are in: Ivan Espinosa, now-former Chief Planning Officer for the company, not to be confused with the Spanish government official who shows up as every image search result for the name. Nissan's Espinosa lacks the Spaniard's beard, but is probably better-equipped to run a car company. At least, that's what Nissan hopes. From Automotive News:

A Nissan veteran, Espinosa has served as chief planning officer since April 2024, overseeing global product planning and motorsports, among other areas. Espinosa has been involved in global product planning since 2010 and has earlier experience in Southeast Asia and Mexico.

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Espinosa joined Nissan in 2003, the same year as Uchida, 58. The outgoing boss said Espinosa brought a keen eye for product and a much-needed zeal for quick reform.

"Espinosa is still in his 40s and full of energy," Uchida said. "He's also a real car guy."

Could Espinosa's "car guy" credentials mean Nissan finally gives us an R36 GT-R? Will his product planning background mean some new products in dealers here in the states? Only time will tell, but until then we can dream. 

Remember when Ford gave us the coolest, hottest hatch around in the form of the Focus RS? That came from the company's German factories, but Ford's German union now fears we may never get such a treat again — in fact, despite getting $4.8 billion from Ford here in the States, all of Ford Germany is facing the threat of bankruptcy. From Automotive News Europe:

The loss of credit lines from Ford Motor Co. means that the automaker has withdrawn insolvency protection from its German business and increases the risk of insolvency, said Benjamin Gruschka, the top union official at Ford-Werke.

"In principle, it is now possible that the German subsidiary could go bankrupt in a few years if the situation does not improve. The mother has always been there for her daughter in the background, but that is over now," Gruschka told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche.

It was unlikely we'd get something as cool as the RS again anyway, given how severely Ford has turned away from small cars, but American enthusiasts still held out some small hope for new hot hatches. If Ford of Germany goes under, those hopes may truly turn to ash. 

The Trump administration has gone back and forth on whether or not we'll have tariffs on some Canadian and Mexican goods, no Canadian or Mexican goods, or maybe everything from everywhere. This has introduced uncertainty into the market, and when Americans get uncertain we tend to get scared — and spendy. Now, that spending is going towards cars, which buyers fear may skyrocket in price. From Reuters:

Between February 16 and 22, searches on car-shopping website Cars.com jumped 9% from the previous week, said David Greene, a Cars.com analyst.

"When the announcement of the tariffs first occurred in early February, it didn't register with car shoppers right away. But when the conversation turned to tariffs on all imports and the new auto tariffs were pushed to April, searches on Cars.com really started to climb," Greene said.

Car prices haven't been affected by tariffs yet, and it's unclear whether they ever will be. Are our current tariffs on Mexico and Canada paused for a month, totally gone, or coming back tomorrow? No one seems able to predict what's coming down the pipeline for import taxes, but any tariffs that do end up in place will certainly drive up prices — and there's no rule on the books saying automakers can't raise prices anyway in preparation. 

Southwest Airlines is going through a bit of an evolution. The carrier, once known for fee-free checked bags, has decided to jack up prices and add a barebones, no-seat-assignment ticket to compensate. These both make flying worse for passengers, but their combination should theoretically add more income to Southwest's balance sheet. All good for the company, right? From the Wall Street Journal:

"Bags fly free" was a policy so sacrosanct that Southwest trademarked the phrase and devoted a section of a book celebrating its 50th anniversary to it.

For bookings made on or after May 28, only customers with the airline's top loyalty status and those buying its priciest tickets will be allowed to check two bags free. Travelers with the airline's next level of status or a Southwest credit card are allowed one free checked bag.

The math, of course, ignores that Southwest passengers could simply move to another airline — something many on the Southwest subreddit are already declaring their intent to do. People don't like bad experiences, and many would rather patronize a competitor that offers something better, miles be damned. Will this change work out for Southwest? Well, we'll see. 

Do you think Gorbachev ever got to have real New York (or even New Haven) pizza? If he was willing to tear down that wall for Pizza Hut, what would he have done for an actually good slice?

Today's supposed to crest 60 degrees here in New York, which means it's finally time for my playlists to migrate back toward warm-weather bops. Yesterday had a lot of Art Angels on loop, but today I'm more tired. Marian Hill it is.