John Martin (pictured) is moving from his role at Nissan North America as senior vice president of manufacturing, supply chain management and purchasing to take up a new role as executive vice president, Alliance Manufacturing Engineering and Supply Chain Management at Renault-Nissan Alliance.
From the beginning of October Martin will oversee global industrial strategy across the brands, including sourcing, production process engineering, production control and supply chain management.
Martin has held production and supply chain leadership roles at Nissan across the UK, Europe, North America and at Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. He has been in his present role, in which he is responsible for seven plants across North America, for more than three and a half years.
“John has been a key member of the North American management team since January 2014, and his strategic direction has helped our region grow significantly over the Nissan Power 88 period,” said José Muñoz, chief performance officer at Nissan Motor and chairman, Nissan North America.
Nissan Power 88 was a six-year business plan designed to accelerate the company's growth across new markets and segments
Heath Holtz will take up the role vacated by Martin. Holtz is currently vice president of manufacturing at Nissan Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant. In the new role Holtz will be responsible for managing all aspects of Nissan's manufacturing operations in the US and Mexico, including all supply chain and purchasing operations.
Holtz joined Nissan North America in March 2006 as manager of vehicle operations. Between then and July 2012, he held a number of positions including department manager, material handling, and senior manager, Americas logistics purchasing.
In July 2012 he moved to Japan as deputy general manager, and then to Sunderland to take up the role of vice-president, supply chain management, Nissan Europe, a year later.
Jeff Younginer will take over from Holtz at the Smyrna plant. He is currently director of product quality at the plant. In his new role he will be responsible for the operation at the Smyrna plant, including safety, quality, operations, productivity and environmental compliance.
“We are pleased to have strong leaders in the region like Heath and Jeff ready to take the reins and continue driving our business success here in North America,” said Muñoz.
