Nissan Appoints James C. Morton, Jr. New U.S. Head of Administration & Finance
22 March 2000
Nissan Appoints James C. Morton, Jr. New U.S. Head of Administration & Finance
- NMAC President; NNA Finance and Marketing Vice Presidents Also Named -
TORRANCE, Calif., March 22 Nissan North America, Inc.
(NNA) today announced the appointment of James C. Morton, Jr. to senior vice
president, administration and finance, effective April 1, 2000. Morton, a
24-year veteran of Michelin North America, Inc., will oversee all Finance,
Human Resources, Business Strategy, Corporate Communications, Information
Systems and Audit for Nissan's North American operations. Morton will report
directly to Norio Matsumura, head of Nissan's North American Management
Committee and executive vice president, overseas operations, Nissan Motor Co.,
Ltd. (NML), and as part of Nissan's global organization also will have
functional reporting responsibilities to Nissan's world headquarters.
"The appointment of Jim Morton to this strategic position is part of our
ongoing efforts to streamline decision making and build a truly empowered
management team in North America," said Matsumura. "Mr. Morton brings
considerable experience to our organization, which he has gained from working
with one of the world's leading automotive suppliers. His broad base of
expertise will complement our new management structure, while bringing fresh
perspective and insight into this strategic role."
As a senior vice president, Morton also will be a member of the recently
announced North American Management Committee (NAMC), the key decision making
body for Nissan in North America, and the U.S. Management Committee. NAMC
members include NNA senior vice presidents, the presidents of Nissan Canada
and Nissan Mexicana, Mr. Matsumura, and on a quarterly basis, Mr. Carlos
Ghosn, Nissan's chief operating officer.
In his tenure with Michelin, Morton held a variety of positions within the
company's Communications, Legal and Government Affairs departments. From 1976
to 1986, he served as Michelin's assistant general counsel in the
Manufacturing Division.
In 1986, he was appointed to director of public relations and governmental
affairs and, in 1992, was named executive director external relations. Since
1986, Morton has held the top communications post at Michelin North America
where he was responsible for developing public relations strategies while
serving as the primary corporate spokesperson. From 1996 he has held the
position of vice president, public relations and government affairs and during
the period of 1990-92, also served in the capacity of general counsel,
Michelin Tire Corporation, Canada.
Prior to joining Michelin, Morton worked for Arthur Andersen & Company and
General Dynamics Corporation in various tax accounting positions.
Morton holds an undergraduate degree in Economics and was awarded his
Juris Doctorate at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Morton is married
with three children and will be relocating to California from Greenville,
South Carolina.
In addition to Morton's appointment, Nissan North America also announced
several other executive appointments effective April 1.
Jack Collins, director, product planning and acting vice president,
product and market strategy group, has been promoted to vice president,
marketing and product planning. Since joining Nissan in 1990, Collins has
held a variety of advertising, marketing, research and product planning
positions, including an assignment as general manager of marketing
communications for Nissan Europe N.V. Prior to joining Nissan, Collins held
various management positions with Hyundai Motor America, Toyota Motor Sales,
U.S.A., and Ford Motor Company.
Takeo "Tak" Kitamura, director, Nissan division coordination, has been
promoted to vice president, marketing services. He joined Nissan in 1978 and
has held a variety of export, sales and marketing positions both in Japan and
internationally.
The new Marketing and Product Planning group effectively consolidates all
Nissan and Infiniti Division marketing and marketing services functions
previously in the Product Planning and Product and Market Strategy Office
(PMSO) groups. Both Collins and Kitamura report to Jed Connelly, senior vice
president, sales and marketing. This organization change also separates
marketing from sales and functionally aligns the departments with Nissan's
global brand management and marketing direction.
In Finance, Katsumi Ishii, vice president, finance, NNA, has been named
Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation (NMAC) president, replacing Yoichiro
Nagashima, who is being reassigned to Japan. Mr. Ishii joined Nissan in 1977
and has held numerous financial and accounting positions with NML, NNA and
NMAC. Replacing Mr. Ishii as vice president, finance and chief financial
officer (CFO), NNA, is Akira Hasenaka, currently deputy general manager,
finance, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan. As CFO, he also will be a supporting
member of the U.S. Management Committee. Since joining Nissan in 1975, Mr.
Hasenaka has held numerous positions in Nissan's Finance and Treasury
departments. He reports to James Morton, senior vice president,
administration and finance.
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
http://www.nissandriven.com or contact the corporate media line at 310-771-5631.
Visit the Nissan Online News Bureau at http://www.nissannews.com.