Senior Management Changes at Nissan North America Engineering, Marketing and Corporate Communications
GARDENA, Calif.--March 23, 2004--| Yamashita, Wilhite and Sproule Appointed to New Global Positions at Parent Company |
Nissan North America (NNA) is announcing a number of senior management changes involving its engineering, marketing and corporate communications functions. These changes are part of a wider series of executive appointments being announced today by parent company, Nissan Motor Ltd (NML). These appointments are all effective April 1, 2004, unless otherwise stated.
Mitsuhiko (Mike) Yamashita, President Nissan Technical Center North America, is appointed to the position of Senior Vice President at Nissan Technical Center in Japan. His new responsibilities include environmental and safety engineering, technology planning, materials engineering and advanced vehicle engineering.
Prior to his current position, Yamashita served as general manager of vehicle design engineering department #1 for NML; as senior manager and chief vehicle engineer of that department; and as senior engineering director of vehicle engineering of U.S. production vehicles for NTCNA. He has worked for Nissan since 1979. Yamashita holds M.E. and B.E. degrees in aeronautics engineering from Kyoto University in Japan and has completed studies in advanced engineering at MIT.
Yamashita will be succeeded by Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi is currently Senior Manager, Resources Management Department, Nissan Technical Center, Japan. Yamaguchi joined Nissan in 1984 and has served in a number of engineering positions both in Japan and North America. Yamaguchi holds a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Systems from the University of Kyoto.
Steven Wilhite, Vice President, Marketing, NNA, is appointed to the position of Vice President, Global Marketing, based at Nissan's global HQ in Tokyo, Japan. Wilhite replaces Jean-Jacques Le Goff who will be taking on a new assignment at Renault. Wilhite's position is effective July 1, 2004 and his successor will be the subject of a further announcement.
Wilhite joined NNA as Vice President, Marketing in 2001. Prior to Nissan, Wilhite previously served as the senior marketing executive at Volkswagen of America (VW). Wilhite left VW to become vice president, worldwide marketing communications at Apple and most recently held the position of chief marketing officer for HealtheTech, Inc., a health products and services company. Born in Chicago, IL, Wilhite earned a master's degree in Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley, and a bachelor's degree in psychology at Stanford.
Simon Sproule, Vice President, Corporate Communications, NNA, is appointed to the position of Vice President, Global Communications and Investor Relations, based at Nissan's global HQ in Tokyo, Japan. Sproule joined NNA in June, 2003 from Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, where he served as their chief communications officer in North America. In addition, Sproule held a number of communications positions with Jaguar and Ford in the US and Europe. Born in Hampshire, United Kingdom, Simon earned a bachelor's degree in Geography from the University of London.
Replacing Sproule as Vice President, Corporate Communications, NNA, is Frederique Le Greves. Le Greves is currently Vice President, Communications, Nissan Europe. Le Greves joined Nissan Europe in April 2003 from Delphi Corporation where she held a number of communication and marketing positions in the US and Europe. Born in Paris, France, Le Greves earned a masters degree in economics from the University of Paris.
Other Corporate Communications moves:
Scott Vazin, Director, Corporate Affairs, NNA, is appointed General Manager, Corporate and Product Communications, Nissan Europe, based in Paris, France. Vazin joined Nissan in 1996 from Mitsubishi USA and has held several communications and marketing positions at both companies.
Replacing Vazin as Director, Corporate Affairs, NNA, is Fred Standish. Standish is currently Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, NNA, based in Farmington Hills, Mich. Standish joined Nissan in 1992 from the Associated Press, where he covered the automotive industry.
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.nissanUSA.com or contact the corporate media line at (310) 771-5631.