US – The vehicle-maker announced a series of appointments across the US, Mexico and Canada as it enters the final year of its ‘Power 88’ mid-term business plan. The new postings are effective from April 1.
“Today, we're announcing changes to our North American leadership team that will ensure our region's key leadership roles are right-sized and aligned with the significant scope and complexity of our growing region,” commented José Muñoz, executive vice-president, Nissan Motor (NML) and chairman, Nissan North America.
On the manufacturing side, Nissan is making several changes to its personnel in Mexico. Sergio Casillas leaves his role as director and plant manager at Aguascalientes 2 to become senior director, Manufacturing Operations at Nissan Brazil (NBA), based in Resende and reporting to Hitoshi Mano, divisional vice-president, Monozukuri, Latin America. Casillas is replaced by Raul Cedillo, promoted from his role as subdirector, Manufacturing Engineering at Aguascalientes 2. Wesley Custodio, director, Production, NBA, is transferring to Nissan Mexicana Manufacturing (NMEX) for a short-term assignment as subdirector, Manufacturing, at Aguascalientes. Both Cedillo and Custodio now report to Armando Avila, vice-president, NMEX.
Also at NMEX, Kouryou Han is promoted from subdirector to director, Purchasing. In the newly created role, he leads cross-functional activities to achieve cost and timing improvements. Based in Toluca, he reports to Gary Zoller, senior director, Vehicle Purchasing, Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation (RNPO).
Other Monozukuri appointments include the transfer of Hiroki Hasegawa from Alliance general director at RNPO to vice-president, Purchasing, North America. He also replaces Rebecca Vest as North American Regional Purchasing head for RNPO. Based in Franklin, Tennessee, Hasegawa reports to John Martin, senior vice-president, Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management.
In addition, Jan Boyte, senior manager, Manufacturing Engineering, at Decherd in Tennessee, is promoted to director in the same division as a replacement for Fumihiro Katsumata, who is being reassigned to NML in Japan. He now reports to Mark Swenson, vice-president, Production Engineering and Quality.
