Yasuhiro Yamauchi has been appointed Alliance executive vice-president, purchasing and chairman and managing director of Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation (RNPO), effective  January 1, 2015. Yamauchi replaces Christian Vandenhende who is appointed executive vice-president, Quality and Total Customer Satisfaction, Renault.

Yamauchi, currently Alliance Global vice-president, Purchasing and deputy managing director of RNPO, will report to Thierry Bolloré, chief competitive officer, Renault, and Hiroto Saikawa, chief competitive officer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., in his new position.

Véronique Sarlat-Depotte, currently Alliance Global Director, Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation Body & Electrical, will succeed Yamauchi as Alliance Global senior vice-president, Purchasing & Deputy Managing Director of RNPO. She will become a member of the Renault Management Committee and will report to Yamauchi.

Purchasing is one of four key business functions that Renault and Nissan convergence on April 1, 2014 in order to boost efficiency and synergies. The other converged functions are Engineering, Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management, and Human Resources. The convergence of the four functions is expected to help the 15-year-old Alliance achieve at least 4.3 billion euros (Rs 32,912 crore) in annualised synergies by 2016, up from €2.9 billion (Rs 22,196 crore) in 2013.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between the Paris-based Renault and Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, which together sell one in 10 cars worldwide. The companies, which have been strategic partners since 1999, sold 8.3 million cars in nearly 200 countries in 2013. The Alliance also operates strategic collaborations with automakers including Germany’s Daimler, China’s Dongfeng, and India’s Ashok Leyland and has a majority stake in the joint venture which owns Russia’s leading automaker AVTOVAZ.