Arun Malhotra set to join Nissan Motor India

Arun Malhotra, who has quit from his role as head of international sales and marketing at Mahindra & Mahindra, may join Nissan Motor India.

Sources say Malhotra may join Nissan Motor India as its managing director. The move reflects Nissan’s strategy to build a strong team to take care of its sales and marketing operations. The Japanese OEM had earlier outsourced the distribution, sales and marketing operations of Nissan vehicles to Hover Automotive India. The partnership was called off in February this year.

Malhotra would bring with him a good understanding of the Indian market gained during his stints at Mahindra & Mahindra and prior to that in Maruti Suzuki.

Nissan, which is lacking a strong presence in the Indian market, would hope to benefit from Malhotra’s experience and knowledge of the market.

The appointment of the new managing director is likely to be made later this month. At the beginning of this month, Nissan had appointed Guillaume Sicard as the new president for its India operations, which includes its manufacturing plant at Oragadam. Sicard replaces Kenichiro Yomura, who returned to Japan to take on the role of general manager, Africa Business Management Department, Nissan Motor Co.

Nissan, which started its India operations in 2005, is eyeing a 10 percent share of the Indian car market by 2020. Half of its sales by 2020 are expected to come from its Datsun-branded models. The Datsun Go, which is positioned as an entry-level car, has not lived up to expectations yet. Expanding the dealership network, especially for the Datsun brand, will be among the key priorities for the new managing director.