Nissan Hires Former Renault Exec to Lead North American Operations

Nissan has announced a few management changes, one of which will bring a Renault executive over to Nissan’s North American headquarters in Nashville. Denis Le Vot, previously head of the Eurasia region for Renault, will lead Nissan’s operations in North America starting January 16.

Le Vot will succeed Jose Munoz, who managed to grow Nissan and Infiniti’s combined U.S. market share to 10 percent by the end of March. Munoz has led North American operations since January 2014, tacking on the title of Chief Performance Officer of Nissan Motor Co. in November 2016. Le Vot will report to Munoz.

Le Vot joined Renault in 1990, holding many executive positions. At different points in time, he was vice president of marketing and sales for the Eurasia region, chief operating officer of Renault Russia, and vice president of sales and marketing for Europe/G9. In 2016, he became chairman of the Eurasia region, with his main markets including Russia, Turkey, and Romania.

The appointment comes as Nissan tries to strengthen the bonds between members of the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance. Alliance boss Carlos Ghosn wants the individual automakers to share more platforms, more technologies, and leadership experience, as Automotive News points out.

Meanwhile, Nissan has appointed Hideyuki Sakamoto the new executive vice president of Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Management. Previously, he led the automaker’s product engineering side of the business. He begins his new role January 1.

Sakamoto’s career with Nissan began in 1980. During this time, he has held multiple chief engineering positions. He was in charge of common platforms and components for the Alliance at one point before heading up Nissan’s product engineering team.

Source: Nissan, Automotive News (Subscription required)

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