Nissan Shuffles American Division Management

A series of management changes have been announced by Japanese manufacturer today, who said that the shuffling of executives from one department to another is meant to boost the efforts Nissan is making in the Americas to increase the quality and manufacturing activities.

To start with, Brad Thacker, who is currently vice president, Business Transformation and Corporate Services, will move on to become the new vice president, Total Customer Satisfaction. He will be in charge with the car maker's customer services in about 41 markets in the region.

The man who has been until now in charge with customer satisfaction, Kevin Martin, will move to become vice president, Manufacturing Quality, while Dave Mazur, currently vice president, Market Intelligence, will be appointed vice president of the expanded Market Intelligence, Business Transformation & Corporate Services.

Finally, Mark Swenson, the vice president for Vehicle Production & Manufacturing Engineering, will take over Vehicle Production, Manufacturing Engineering & Component Facilities. All of the above vice presidents will report to Bill Krueger, senior vice president, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Supply Chain Management and Total Customer Satisfaction.

"These changes reflect the importance that quality and the voice of the customer will play as we expand Nissan's product portfolio and presence throughout the Americas region," said Carlos Tavares, chairman, Nissan Americas.

"With newly defined roles these executives and their respective teams will be able to sharpen our focus on specific aspects of quality and production to drive region-wide results. At the same time, Dave's oversight of both market intelligence and our regional business processes will help us more directly translate what we hear from customers into actionable improvement plans, which is critical in an increasingly competitive market environment."