Nissan Names New Sales Head in U.S.

Nissan North America Inc. says Mark McNabb, currently a Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. corporate vice president and head of the Infiniti global business, will add responsibility for sales and marketing effective immediately.

McNabb will fill the hole left by an exiting Brad Bradshaw, senior vice president-sales and marketing. Nissan did not give a reason for Bradshaw’s sudden departure.

Bradshaw had been in the job for little more than a year. He took over the sales and marketing role in March 2006 from a retiring Jed Connelly, who decided not to make the move with Nissan from California to Nashville.

Under Connelly, Nissan’s U.S. sales grew to 1,076,945 in 2005, up from 703,662 in 2001.

“It’s going to be important to just keep the company moving forward,” Bradshaw told Ward’s soon after being named to the new job. “(Connelly has a) pretty good track record.”

Combined, Nissan and Infiniti sales fell 5.3% to 1,019,461 light vehicles in 2006. But deliveries this year are up 1.5% through May to 443,246, making good on a Bradshaw prediction at the start of the year for sales “to be up year-over-year” in 2007.

Still struggling, however, are several trucks in the Nissan lineup, including the fullsize Titan pickup, with demand down 14.2% so far this year. Last year, Nissan delivered 72,172 Titans, missing its 100,000-unit annual sales target.

McNabb returned to Nissan April 1 from Mercedes-Benz U.S.A., where was vice president-marketing since 2005. He joined Mercedes after nearly 20 years at Nissan, where he worked in various sales and marketing jobs since 1986.