Nissan Australia marketing boss off to Japan

NISSAN Motor Co Australia’s executive general manager of marketing Peter Clissold is preparing to relocate to the Japanese car-maker’s headquarters in Yokohama as global chief marketing manager for the company worldwide.

Officially starting the new job on September 1, Mr Clissold will report directly to Nissan Motor Co’s corporate vice-president and global head of marketing and brand strategy Roel de Vries.

A spokesperson for Nissan Australia told GoAuto today that the company “is in the process of establishing Peter’s replacement, with an announcement to follow”.

Mr Clissold has worked for Nissan Australia since April 2012, transferring to the Australian operation from the United States around the same time as compatriot Bill Peffer, who was hired to replace Dan Thompson as managing director and CEO.

Both Mr Peffer – who ran the company for 18 months before returning to the US – and Mr Clissold previously worked together in the marketing division of Nissan North America.

They also both worked in senior roles for the Ford Motor Company, and GoAuto understands that both their fathers worked for the Blue Oval in America.

As a result, the pair worked closely in Australia, distancing the company from Mr Thompson’s unrealistic “number one importer” mantra and taking significant steps to improve relationships with dealers.

Mr Peffer’s short tenure meant Mr Clissold subsequently worked under interim CEO Peter Jones and his replacement, Richard Emery, as the senior management team tackled issues such as oversupply of vehicles, ongoing strained dealer relations, heavy reliance on fleet sales, poor-performing models (such as the now-discontinued Almera light sedan) and complicated model mixes.

Before moving to Australia, Mr Clissold had worked for 18 months as senior manager of ‘contests and incentives’ at Nissan North America, and before that spent four-and-a-half years in production planning at the company.

Prior to that, he spent some 16 years with Ford in a variety of senior positions.