Nissan Motor Company on Wednesday said Chief Performance Officer and former U.S. chief Jose Munoz would become head of its China operations, leading the Japanese automaker’s ambitious expansion in the world’s largest auto market.
The Japanese automaker and its partner Renault SA also named key members of senior management teams that will focus on deepening convergence in areas including engineering and purchasing, as the group seeks to leverage its combined scale to raise efficiencies and reduce costs.
According to Auto News, the closer partnership comes as the two automakers discuss plans for a closer tie-up in which Nissan would acquire the bulk of the French state’s 15 percent Renault holding, Reuters reported last week.
Munoz, 52, who previously led Nissan’s strong growth in the United States, will replace Jun Seki, currently head of China operations. Seki becomes a senior vice president of production engineering, and will join a senior management team focused on increasing cooperation between Nissan and Renault in manufacturing and production operations.
Munoz will remain chief performance officer at Nissan.
The move follows Nissan’s announcement last month that it and its Chinese joint venture partner Dongfeng Group plan to invest 60 billion yuan ($9.50 billion) in China over the next five years to boost sales volumes by more than 70 percent to 2.6 million vehicles a year by 2022.
