Nissan is considering pulling the plug on the contentious stair-step incentive program it has used to drive its dealers to higher monthly sales, according to some of the brand's retailers.

Nissan could halt the program as early as this summer, though a decision might be delayed until year end, according to a dealer familiar with the plans.

The shift would be a sea change for the brand, which has earned scorn for what some dealers claim has been hard-driving sales pressure on its franchisees.

The internal discussion was revealed last week in a letter to Nissan's dealers obtained by Automotive News, which said Nissan North America is studying an end to the program.

According to the letter, distributed by email Thursday, May 23, by the Nissan National Dealer Advisory Board, Nissan North America Chairman Jose Valls and his executive team have agreed to evaluate moving away from the program and are working on the best timing for the move.

A spokesman for Nissan North America in Nashville declined to comment.

The situation occurs in the wake of management turnover at the Japanese automaker since November, when Nissan Motor Co.'s then-chairman, Carlos Ghosn, was arrested and accused by Japanese prosecutors of years of financial improprieties while running the company. Ghosn has denied wrongdoing. But his abrupt departure has opened the door to changes in the way Nissan has been run.

CEO Hiroto Saikawa has vowed to change the automaker's approach to retailing vehicles in the U.S., and as his new chairman over North America, Valls has signaled that he eagerly wants to improve Nissan's long-suffering dealer relations.

The stair-step program was one of the primary tools in Ghosn's campaign to grow U.S. market share between 2011 and 2017. It rewarded dealers with cash for hitting ambitious monthly, quarterly or year-end sales goals, and for a fleeting period, it helped lift Nissan North America to Ghosn's specific target — a 10 percent U.S. market share in March 2017.