Bullish on growth in Africa, Middle East and India, Nissan appoints Peyman Kargar chairman of its Africa, Middle East and India region and Kalyana Sivagnanam as regional vice–president (Marketing and Sales).
30 Mar 2017 | 9353 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Japanese carmaker Nissan has made new appointments at the helm for its Africa, Middle East, and India region (AMI) business region, which is becoming increasingly significant for the carmaker's global business.
The company has appointed Peyman Kargar as senior vice-president and chairman of its Africa, Middle East, and India ...
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Japanese carmaker Nissan has made new appointments at the helm for its Africa, Middle East, and India region (AMI) business region, which is becoming increasingly significant for the carmaker's global business.
The company has appointed Peyman Kargar as senior vice-president and chairman of its Africa, Middle East, and India region (AMI), effective from April 1, 2017.
In this role he will lead the regional management committee and be responsible for business strategy and performance for both the Nissan and Datsun brands with all functional heads reporting to him.
Kargar, 49, joins Nissan from its Alliance partner Renault, where he has worked since 1996 in a number of senior management posts spanning engineering, quality, service, projects and aftersales. His most recent position was as Renault’s vice-president (Sales & Marketing), Africa, the Middle East and India since 2014. Peyman effectively established the new region for Renault and gained extensive market knowledge through working in over 50 countries.
Nissan’s global Chief Performance Officer, Jose Munoz, said: “The AMI region is poised for significant and sustained, long-term growth and is becoming an increasingly important market for Nissan. Peyman brings with him a wealth of senior experience from this part of the world with our Alliance partner Renault, which will be vital in continuing to drive our business forward by meeting the needs of an expanding and evolving customer base.”
Kalyana Sivagnanam has joined Nissan as regional vice-president, Marketing and Sales, for Africa, the Middle East and India. He will also be president of Nissan Middle East.
In his new role, Sivagnanam will oversee all marketing and sales in the Africa, Middle East and India region. He will also assume overall responsibility for Nissan’s business in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Nissan already has a strong and growing presence in the region with more than 15,000 employees supporting the business across 87 countries. The company has four major regional hubs controlling marketing and sales, and related functions, in the United Arab Emirates, India, Egypt and South Africa – as well as satellite offices in other key markets including Saudi Arabia. Manufacturing facilities are located in India, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria with a combined annual production capacity of more than half a million units.
Sivagnanam, who is an MBA graduate from the UK, said: “I am delighted to join Nissan and look forward to building on the company’s success in Africa, the Middle East and India. This region includes some the fastest-growing, most promising economies in the world.”
He has over 18 years of experience in the automotive industry. He has joined Nissan from Ford where he led the development of the Lincoln and Ford brands in the Middle East and Africa as vice-president of Marketing, Sales and Service. Previously he was a regional director for Ford in Europe where he was instrumental in turning around the performance of the Northern Region – from worst to best – in 18 months.
“Shivi brings to Nissan a deep knowledge of Africa, the Middle East and India and a strong track record of success,” said Jose Munoz, Nissan’s Chief Performance Officer. “The region is becoming increasingly important to Nissan, and we are focusing on offering vehicles even more closely tailored to the needs of our customers in these markets.”