Bartsch Out at Infiniti

Infiniti announces Michael Bartsch is vacating his post as vice president-Infiniti Americas.

Bartsch will be replaced by Nissan’s West Region Vice President Randy Parker, effective immediately.

 “(Randy) has overseen strong growth for the Nissan brand in our western region, and we look forward to the skills that he will bring to Infiniti,” Jose Munoz, chairman-Nissan North America management committee, says in a statement.

Infiniti says Bartsch “will leave the company to pursue other interests.”

Bartsch, an Australian, has been at the helm of Infiniti in the U.S. only for about 18 months, having joined the automaker in September 2013 from Porsche Cars North America, where he was chief operating officer.

As of late last summer, Bartsch was commuting from his home in Atlanta, where Porsche’s North American headquarters is located, to Infiniti’s U.S. headquarters in Nashville.

Bartsch’s departure from Infiniti follows that of Johan de Nysschen, who left as the brand’s global president last July to join General Motors’ Cadillac brand. De Nysschen had been with Infiniti less than two years.

In an interview with WardsAuto in August, Bartsch spoke of his confidence in Nissan’s game plan for Infiniti, with or without de Nysschen at the top.

“Nobody’s wondering what (de Nysschen’s departure) means for Infiniti, because Johan left a very good legacy, a solid legacy, and the plan that Johan laid out is solid, and was endorsed by (Nissan CEO Carlos) Ghosn and (Nissan Executive Vice President Andy) Palmer. It's locked in.”

Palmer left Nissan shortly after Bartsch’s comments to join Aston Martin as CEO.

Parker will be Infiniti’s third top U.S. executive in three years. Bartsch replaced Ben Poore, who joined Infiniti in 2008 from Ford’s former Lincoln-Mercury unit.

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