*

Not clear if Uchida will immediately depart, sources have

said

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CFO, heads of planning and performance seen as possible

successors

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Details of restructuring efforts may also emerge

By Daniel Leussink

YOKOHAMA, Japan, March 11 (Reuters) - Nissan's ( NSANF )

board of directors will meet on Tuesday to discuss potential

successors to CEO Makoto Uchida, who is under pressure to step

down due to the Japanese automaker's worsening earnings

performance and failed merger talks with Honda ( HMC ).

His position has become untenable but at the same time it's

not certain that he will immediately depart, people familiar

with the matter have said.

A new CEO, who would be Nissan's ( NSANF ) fourth in less than six

years, could also serve in an interim capacity while the board

searches for a permanent replacement.

Potential successors include Chief Financial Officer Jeremie

Papin, Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa and Chief

Performance Officer Guillaume Cartier, according to sources and

Japanese media reports.

Nissan has been beset by years of faltering sales and

management turmoil, never fully recovering from a hit to its

brand following the 2018 ouster of former chairman Carlos Ghosn,

who was accused by Tokyo prosecutors of financial misconduct.

During the current financial year to end-March, Nissan has

cut its profit forecast no less than three times.

As part of Uchida's efforts to turn around Japan's No. 3

automaker, he announced in November plans for thousands of job

cuts and reductions in production capacity. He has flagged that

an update on its restructuring could come around this time.

The turnaround plan currently calls for the closure of a

factory in Thailand and two other unspecified plants.

Nissan does not plan to close any of its five car assembly

plants in Japan, Kyodo News reported on Monday.

Nearly all legacy auto brands are having to contend with

Chinese EV makers, which have upended the industry with sleek

software-rich cars. But Nissan is struggling to overcome deeper

problems such as its failure to launch hybrids in the United

States and the turmoil left in the wake of Ghosn's exit.

It also faces potential tariffs on vehicles it exports to

the U.S. from Mexico, a major manufacturing hub.

Uchida said last month that ending the malaise that the

company is facing was the most pressing issue, after which he

would be willing to bow out.

A change at the top would come just weeks after Uchida and

Honda ( HMC ) CEO Toshihiro Mibe broke off merger talks.

A combination would have created the world's fourth-largest

automaker but sources said the discussions unravelled due to

insufficient alarm on Nissan's ( NSANF ) part about its predicament and

Honda's ( HMC ) abrupt proposal that Nissan become its subsidiary.

There has also been speculation that Nissan could look to

partner with Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, which

has a nascent electric vehicle business headed by former Nissan

executive Jun Seki.

Seki has been mentioned by domestic media as a potential

successor if Nissan were to tie up with Honda ( HMC ), Foxconn and

Mitsubishi Motors ( MMTOF ) through a four-way deal.