ATSUGI, Japan, March 26 (Reuters) - Nissan ( NSANF )

plans to dramatically cut its car development time to boost its

competitiveness, the struggling automaker's incoming CEO Ivan

Espinosa said on Wednesday.

Japan's third-largest automaker currently takes about 55

months to develop a completely new vehicle.

"We are slow. This is one of the things we have to face,"

Espinosa, currently chief planning officer, told reporters at an

event about its product plans.

He said he wants to cut development for the first car in a

family of cars to 37 months while the second car or third car

would take just 30 months.

Espinosa, a two-decade company veteran known as a passionate

product person, takes the helm on April 1. He is expected to

refocus the automaker's priorities on developing vehicles more

in tune with customers' tastes as he seeks to steer the company

out of a deep sales slump.

Nissan ( NSANF ) has several gaps in various markets, Espinosa said,

adding that a key part of his vision was to have "five or six

brand-oriented models" that would go into as many markets as

possible.

"Models like Patrol, models like the Z, probably the Leaf,

you know, cars that are really describing what Nissan ( NSANF ) is about,"

he said.

Underscoring the depth of its pain, Nissan ( NSANF ) has cut its

earnings estimates three times for the year ending this month,

has seen its debt rating reduced to "junk" and risks losing its

rank as Japan's No. 3 automaker to Suzuki.

It sold 3.3 million vehicles worldwide last year, a small

decline from 2023 but only one of many with sales down some 40%

since 2017.

In China, Nissan ( NSANF ) has been pushed to the sidelines by local

brands such as BYD, while in the U.S., it has

suffered from its failure to launch hybrids. It also did not

manage to capitalise on an early lead in electric vehicles.

As part of Nissan's ( NSANF ) restructuring plans, the automaker has

said it will cut 9,000 jobs, reduce global capacity by 20%,

close a plant in Thailand by June and shut two more plants that

it has not identified.

Espinosa said the company was considering additional

measures, but declined to give details.

New vehicles to be offered in North America in the coming

financial year include a Leaf crossover - the third-generation

of the world's first mass-market electric car originally

launched in 2010 - as well as its first plug-in hybrid, the

Rogue SUV developed with Mitsubishi Motors ( MMTOF ).

The Leaf will also be sold in Japan and European markets in

the next financial year.

Nissan ( NSANF ) also plans to start producing an electric SUV at its

Canton, Mississippi plant late in the year beginning April 2027.

In Europe, the automaker will begin sales of the electric

Micra produced with alliance partner Renault before

the year-end, Nissan ( NSANF ) said.

It will also introduce the new Leaf and a hybrid version of

the Qashqai crossover in Europe in the coming financial yearand

add an electric Juke to its lineup there in the year after.