as chief executive of Nissan on the 1st of December hopes

are high that it will be the start

of a new era for the troubled Japanese carmaker.

With instalment of a younger slate of top managers,

Nissan will aim to put behind it 12 months of internal turmoil,

profit collapse, and tensions with its French partner

Renault, that were triggered by the arrest

of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn a year ago.

But the challenges the new 53-year-old boss faces

are enormous.

The Japanese group recently issued a profit warning,

saying it now expects its annual net profit to fall 66 per cent

from a year earlier.

Sales were weaker than expected in all of its core markets.

Analysts predict that one of the first jobs Mr Uchida, who

headed Nissan's China business, will have to focus on

is a new round of restructuring to stem

a sharp decline in profits.

Already, Nissan has said it would cut 12,500 jobs globally

and reduce the number of models it produces by 10 per cent.

Another urgent task is to repair the relationship

with Nissan's long-time alliance partner, Renault,

that was badly shaken after Mr Ghosn was arrested

on charges of financial misconduct, which

the former boss denies.

The struggling French carmaker is also

in the process of finding a new chief executive after it too

ousted its former boss in October.

With a new management team in both France and Japan,

the two companies will aim to revive the alliance

as they seek to survive a massive disruption

coming via electric vehicles, autonomous driving,

and ride sharing.

The interests are aligned more than ever,

but Mr Uchida will need to strike a delicate balance

between Nissan's internal interests

and the structural interests to make the alliance sustainable.