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.March
24, 2004
© 1998
- 2004 Copyright & |
. Nissan reinforces
organization to prepare for continued profitable growth -
As part of the management changes, Ghosn will take over responsibility for North American operations. Executive Vice President Norio Matsumura, currently responsible for North America, will become responsible for the company's Japan operations. Nissan's Marketing & Sales Division in Japan will be reorganized to make it more customer focused and efficient. Senior Vice President Toshiyuki Shiga will take full management control of Nissan's China operations, currently overseen by Ghosn. Shiga will also continue management of the company's general overseas markets (GOM) operations, comprised of all markets except Japan, North America and Europe. Other Top Management Changes: Hiroto Saikawa, currently senior vice president of Nissan's purchasing function, will be appointed to Nissan's Executive Committee and assume management of global purchasing from Itaru Koeda, executive vice president and co-chairman of Nissan. Koeda, who has been nominated by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) as the organization's next president, will continue to oversee the administration of affiliated companies, while adding external and government affairs to his duties. With Saikawa's addition to the Executive Committee, the total number of its members will increase from eight to nine members. Executive Vice President Patrick Pelata, currently head of planning, design and Nissan's European operations, will take on the added responsibility as head of Nissan's newly created light commercial vehicle (LCV) business unit. The new business unit has been created to better serve customers of light commercial vehicles and expand Nissan's presence in this important segment of the global market. Senior Vice President Bernard Rey, currently in charge of Nissan's purchasing strategy department, will take over responsibility for the company's CEO Office. In his new role, Rey will assume responsibility for several corporate administrative functions currently held by Ghosn. New Senior Vice Presidents: Kimiyasu Nakamura, vice president of Nissan's vehicle design engineering division, and Mitsuhiko Yamashita, president of Nissan Technical Center in North America, will be appointed senior vice presidents as of April 1. Retiring Senior Vice Presidents: Yukio Kitahora, Shirou Tomii, Hiroyasu Kan and Eiichi Abe will retire as senior vice presidents on March 31. In addition, Jean-Jacques LeGoff, senior vice president in charge of Nissan's global marketing department, will step down as of June 30 and return to Renault. Steven Wilhite, currently vice president in charge of marketing at Nissan North America, will succeed LeGoff on July 1. Other Notable Changes: Hitoshi Kawaguchi, senior manager of the CEO Office, will become president of Nissan Financial Services Co., Ltd. as of April 1, replacing Minoru Nakamura who is retiring on March 31. New Auditors: Nissan will appoint three new auditors pending approval by shareholders at Nissan's annual shareholders' meeting in June. The three candidates are Hiroyasu Kan, senior vice president at Nissan, Haruo Murakami, chairman of Japan Telecom, and Shinji Ichishima, deputy president of Mizuho Securities. Retiring Auditors: Auditors Haruhiko Takenaka and Hideo Nakamura will retire in June, also subject to approval by Nissan's shareholders. Other major organizational changes as of April 1 Intellectual Asset Management: Nissan will establish an Intellectual Asset Management Office in order to better manage and protect its intellectual property. R&D: Nissan will increase the number of its vehicle design engineering divisions from two to three to be able to develop products that better meet its global expansion as well as more diversified and demanding customers' requirements. (March, 23, 2004)
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