Nissan appoints Allan Rushforth to head global sales

Nissan Motor Co today announced the appointment of Allan Rushforth as corporate vice-president for global sales.

Rushforth, an experienced and successful automotive sales executive, will join Nissan at its Yokohama headquarters and report to Philippe Klein, Nissan chief planning officer.

Rushforth joins Nissan from South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd., where he most recently was chief operating officer and a senior vice president of Hyundai's European operations. He was based in Frankfurt, Germany.

"Allan's past professional experience includes running sales operations in international markets and working across cultural boundaries," said Klein. "Nissan is a company that values cultural diversity and Allan shares this and has demonstrated the ability to lead multicultural teams successfully. I believe that he is uniquely prepared to lead Nissan's global sales."

Rushforth, a British national, started his automotive career in the UK in 1983, working in Fleet sales with the Rover Group plc. He rose through the organization attaining greater responsibilities until 1996.

Following the purchase of the business in 1996 by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Rushforth was assigned to South Korea as executive director with responsibility for the launch of the Land Rover brand, trading as a division of the newly established BMW subsidiary in the market.

He returned to the U.K. in 1998 as the sales director for Land Rover, a position he held until he was recruited by Volkswagen Group AG to lead Audi Retail Operations from their Milton Keynes, U.K. headquarters. He remained with VW through 2007 and left the Group as director of Group Services. He joined Hyundai in 2007 and has held his current position since then.

Photograph: A made-in-Chennai, new Nissan Sunny set for shipment to overseas markets.