Nissan Creates Infiniti Business Unit to Lead Brand’s Global Operation

LISBON, May 8, 2008 -- Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has announced the creation of the new Infiniti Business Unit (IBU), which will be based in Atsugi city, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. The IBU will be headed by Akihiro Otomo, corporate vice president, who will be responsible for the brand’s global operation.

The new IBU was established in April 2008 to enhance the global operation of the Infiniti luxury brand. The aims of this business unit are to solidify global business operations for Infiniti, ensure consistent development of the Infiniti brand globally, and drive profitable growth for Infiniti around the world. The IBU encompasses the fields of product planning, technical development, purchasing, quality, manufacturing, marketing, sales and aftersales.

Akihiro Otomo has been named as the head of the IBU. To support Otomo, the IBU includes the following functional leaders:

* Shuichi Hannya, Project Quality Director, Total Customer Satisfaction
* Isao Kasama, Senior Manager, Manufacturing
* Katsuhiko Morisaki, Senior Manager, Purchasing
* Takaaki Oaku, Program Director
* Tatsuo Osawa, Segment Chief Product Specialist, Product Planning
* Eric Sipe, General Manager, Marketing & Sales Operations
* Masaru Tamura, General Manager, R&D
* Mat Wiggers, General Manager, Control, Corporate Planning and HR

In addition, the IBU has a solid global network headed by regional leaders in the markets where the Infiniti brand has been launched or is soon to be i.e. U.S., Europe, China, Korea, GCC and Taiwan. This will lead to closer relationship and effective cooperation between the IBU and each region.

“After being named as one of the breakthroughs for the NISSAN Value-Up business plan in 2005, Infiniti has made significant progress towards becoming a globally recognized luxury brand. We have recently launched Infiniti in new markets such as Russia, China, and Korea. As a result of this geographic expansion, as well as a strong product line-up, our global sales volume has increased,” said Akihiro Otomo, head of the unit. “However, our challenge does not end here. I expect that the new global structure of the IBU will lead to further enhancement of our cross-functional and cross-regional activities. We should see the positive results during the next mid-term business plan, as the Infiniti business continues to grow,” Otomo added.

Since the start of the NISSAN Value-Up business plan, Infiniti’s global sales volume has increased 7.3%. At the same time, Infiniti has evolved from being primarily a U.S. brand to becoming a truly global brand. In fiscal year 2004, only 7% of Infiniti sales came from outside of the United States. In fiscal year 2007, 17% of sales came from markets outside the U.S., and this percentage is expected to rise in the future.

As previously announced, Infiniti will begin operations in Europe this autumn. In addition to this significant geographic expansion, Infiniti’s growth will be driven by the global launch of the all-new FX crossover later this year.

Akihiro Otomo

Corporate Vice President of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Date of birth January 7, 1961
Education March 1984 Graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Waseda University
Career Profile April 2008 Corporate Vice President in charge of Global Infiniti Business Unit,
Infiniti Product Development Div.
April 2006 Corporate Vice President in charge of Infiniti Product Development Div.
April 2005 Vice President in charge of Vehicle Design Engineering Division No.1,
Vehicle Component Engineering Division
April 2004 Chief Vehicle Engineer, Vehicle Design Engineering Division No.3
Vehicle Planning Department No.3
May 2000 Transferred to Nissan Technical Center Europe Ltd.
April 1984 Joined Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Source: Nissan

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