Nissan shares fell 6.3% after Mercedes-Benz’s pension fund sold its entire 3.8% stake, worth about ¥47.83bn ($323mn), intensifying pressure on the struggling Japanese automaker. The divestment comes as new CEO Ivan Espinosa pushes a sweeping turnaround plan, including ¥500bn ($3.4bn) in cost cuts, 20,000 job losses, factory closures, and asset sales.

Once allied with Mercedes under Carlos Ghosn in 2010, Nissan has seen its market value drop below $10bn, with shares down 28% this year despite a temporary lift from U.S. tariff cuts on Japanese cars. T

The company faces mounting challenges, recording negative free cash flow in Q1 and losing its spot in the global top 10 automakers by sales for the first time in two decades due to rising Chinese EV competition.

Recent merger talks with Honda collapsed after disagreements over control, while Renault, Nissan’s largest shareholder with a 36% stake, has also been exploring a partial sell-down.

Mercedes said its Nissan stake was no longer strategic and sold it as part of a portfolio clean-up. Nissan declined to comment.