Photo: Infiniti
This year has certainly been a strong one for Infiniti as the luxury brand broke sales records, announced key new products and opened new global manufacturing facilities, but this forward progress could be halted some by the news that Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen will be resigning. Although no specifics were announced, Automotive News is reporting that just two years after taking the job, de Nysschen is stepping down.
There has been no official word from de Nysschen yet, but Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer says the sudden departure is due to “personal reasons.” This includes a “strong desire” to move back to the U.S. to be with his family, but it also mentions that he already has another job lined up. At this time, though, his future employment is unknown, but an announcement on that front is expected soon.
Another possible factor into de Nysschen’s sudden departure could have been tension with Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn could have also played into this decision, according to the report. After 19 years with Audi (including almost eight as the president of Audi of America), de Nysschen was lured away by Ghosn didn’t necessarily see eye to eye on key topics including sales goals and electric vehicles. For example, Ghosn set an ambitious sales of selling 500,000 cars by 2017, but de Nysschen pushed this back to 2020.
Regardless of why he’s leaving, there’s no doubting that de Nysschen has helped turn Infiniti into a stronger brand both in terms of sales and global presence. This year alone, Infiniti set a global sales record for itself with 101,220 vehicles sold over the first six months of this year, which is an increase of 30 percent thanks to strong growth in markets like the U.S., China and the Middle East. On top of that, the brand has created new synergies with joint venture partner Daimler including an engine plant in the U.S. and the announcement of a vehicle production line in Mexico
As for de Nysschen’s, Infiniti hasn’t made any announcement yet, but the article says that the company is looking at internal and external candidates to fill the void. Until the position is filled, Palmer will assume de Nysschen’s duties.
Another possible factor into de Nysschen’s sudden departure could have been tension with Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn could have also played into this decision, according to the report. After 19 years with Audi (including almost eight as the president of Audi of America), de Nysschen was lured away by Ghosn didn’t necessarily see eye to eye on key topics including sales goals and electric vehicles. For example, Ghosn set an ambitious sales of selling 500,000 cars by 2017, but de Nysschen pushed this back to 2020.
Regardless of why he’s leaving, there’s no doubting that de Nysschen has helped turn Infiniti into a stronger brand both in terms of sales and global presence. This year alone, Infiniti set a global sales record for itself with 101,220 vehicles sold over the first six months of this year, which is an increase of 30 percent thanks to strong growth in markets like the U.S., China and the Middle East. On top of that, the brand has created new synergies with joint venture partner Daimler including an engine plant in the U.S. and the announcement of a vehicle production line in Mexico
As for de Nysschen’s, Infiniti hasn’t made any announcement yet, but the article says that the company is looking at internal and external candidates to fill the void. Until the position is filled, Palmer will assume de Nysschen’s duties.
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