YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced senior management appointments as it continues to strengthen its leadership team to support the accelerated progress of the long-term vision, Nissan Ambition 2030. Since launching its transformation plan, Nissan has placed a strong focus on building a culture of empowerment and enablement to allow its people to perform their best.
The following senior management changes will be effective April 01, 2023.
Allyson Witherspoon, currently region vice president, Marketing and Customer Experience for the U.S., is appointed as corporate vice president (CVP), Global Marketing, Brand and Merchandizing. Witherspoon will report to Asako Hoshino, executive vice president (EVP).
Ponz Pandikuthira, currently VP, Global Marketing, is appointed as region senior vice president, Chief Planning Officer for Americas. Pandikuthira will report to Jeremie Papin, senior vice president (SVP), chairperson of Americas Management Committee.
Keiichi Sato, currently VP, Global Aftersales Service Parts division is appointed as CVP, Global Aftersales. Sato will report to Ashwani Gupta, chief operating officer (COO). Michael Soutter, currently in charge of Global Aftersales will be taking a leave of absence as of March 31st, 2023.
Masashi Matsuyama, currently VP, Operational Strategic Office (OSO) will assume concurrent responsibility as president for Nissan (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (NCIC). Hideki Kimata, the current VP, president for NCIC, will be appointed to a leadership position within Nissan group.
Rika Kiritake, currently division general manager of Corporate Market Intelligence, is appointed as VP, Corporate Market Intelligence and Upstream Pricing. Kiritake will continue to report to Gupta COO.
Hitoshi Mano, currently CVP of manufacturing strategy planning division, supply chain management division is appointed to SVP, Manufacturing Strategy Planning division, SCM division and Global BCP Management. Mano will continue to report to Hideyuki Sakamoto, EVP, Manufacturing & SCM.
Takashi Yoshizawa, currently VP of EE & Systems Engineering is appointed to CVP, EE & Systems Engineering, Connected Car and Services Engineering division. Yoshizawa will continue to report to Kunio Nakaguro EVP, Research and Development.
Taku Murase, currently program director of C-Segment (SUV) is appointed to VP, Purchasing. Murase will report to Hiroki Hasegawa, SVP, Purchasing.
Daisuke Masunaga, currently division general manager of global IS delivery division, is appointed to VP, Global Strategy Planning & Control and Global DX promotion. Masunaga will report to Yasunobu Matoba, CVP & chief information officer. Minoru Noumaru, currently VP will be retiring from the role and will be in charge of IS transformation lead.
Yoshimi Shida, currently division general manager of corporate management office is appointed as VP, Corporate Governance, Corporate Management and will oversee office of the board of directors. Shida will continue to report to Hideaki Watanabe, SVP of corporate strategy, new mobility, corporate governance, corporate management and office of board of directors.
Peyman Kargar, currently SVP in charge of Global INFINITI will be retiring from his current role as of March 31st, 2023. Olga Filippova, currently division general manager will be acting head of Global INFINITI until a replacement is nominated. Filippova will report to Hoshino EVP.
Antoine Barthes, currently CVP in charge of Global Sales, Customer Quality, Dealer Network Development will be leaving Nissan as of March 31st, 2023. Mayra Gonzalez, currently division general manager will be acting head of Global Sales, Dealer Network Development until a replacement is nominated. Gonzalez will report to Hoshino EVP.
With these moves, Nissan continues to drive forward its plans for future of mobility to meet the needs of individual markets, improve the competitiveness of development and manufacturing globally, and further accelerate the electrification strategy to achieve Nissan Ambition 2030.
1 SCM: Supply Chain Management
1 BCP: Business Continuity Plan
1 EE: Electronic and Electronics
1 SUV: Sport Utility Vehicle
1 DX: Digital Transformation