Uchida had been one of the strongest advocates within Nissan for a deal with Honda. However, relations between Uchida and his counterpart Toshihiro Mibe deteriorated as Honda became frustrated with the speed of Nissan’s restructuring and the depth of its financial troubles.

Japanese carmaker Honda Motor is reportedly demanding Nissan jettison CEO Makoto Uchida as a condition for reopening acquisition talks that could create the world’s third-largest carmaker by vehicle sales.

The recently-called-off merger between Honda and Nissan may not in fact be dead, according to a Financial Times report. Honda is willing to restart talks if Nissan CEO Makoto Uchi