Infiniti CEO Johan De Nysschen resigns, joins Cadillac as president

Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen talks about the Infiniti Q50 at the North American International Auto Show.

Tony Ding, AP

Nissan’s head of its Infiniti luxury brand has resigned after two years on the job and is now the president of Cadillac

by
Tim Higgins, Bloomberg | July 11, 2014

Small

Medium

Large

General Motors named Johan de Nysschen, head of Infiniti, as president of Cadillac as the luxury brand tries to build on new products, boost its global image and recapture last year’s growth.

De Nysschen, 54, also a former executive with Audi, resigned earlier today as Infiniti chief executive after two years in the job. His Cadillac appointment, effective Aug. 1, follows yesterday’s announcement that Bob Ferguson, who had led the brand since 2012, would return to a public-policy role for GM.

“Johan brings to our company vast experience in the development and proper execution of luxury automotive brands,” GM president Dan Ammann said today in a statement. “With over 20 years in this exact space, especially in the development of the Audi brand, his track record proves he is the perfect executive to lead Cadillac for the long term.”

De Nysschen, who helped boost Audi sales in the U.S. 42 per cent during his tenure, arrives at Cadillac as Detroit-based GM tries to elevate the brand in the U.S. and China to compete with Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Cadillac, armed with some of its best products in a generation, increased U.S. sales 22 per cent last year from 2012. The redesigned CTS sedan, named in 2013 as Motor Trend’s car of the year, is one of 10 new or redesigned Cadillac vehicles GM is bringing out in the U.S. by the end of 2015. The new ATS compact car won North American Car of the Year at the Detroit auto show in January 2013.

Even with the new products, Cadillac’s U.S. sales fell 1.9 per cent this year through June. The GM brand’s sales ranked fifth in the market.

“Sales have been soft at a time when the overall market and the luxury market is up and they have new product,” Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst at AutoTrader.com, said today in a telephone interview. “Cadillac’s problem, against at least the big three German makers, is it hasn’t gotten the strength of the brand and image as those do and that’s going to take continued work and product.”

At Cadillac, de Nysschen will be responsible for all aspects of the brand, including marketing, sales, product planning, pricing, network development and strategic development, GM said in the statement.

“I have for some time now been impressed by how the new General Motors has been transformed into a formidable force in the industry,” de Nysschen said in the statement. “The combination of strong corporate leadership and exceptional engineering resources presents the perfect combination to restore Cadillac to its place among global premium brands.”

De Nysschen’s Infiniti resignation was announced internally today, said Stefan Weinmann, a spokesman for the Nissan brand. Andy Palmer, Nissan’s chief planning officer overseeing the Infiniti business, will head the luxury unit in the interim as the company searches for a successor, Weinmann said.

The departure comes as Infiniti, which moved its headquarters to Hong Kong to focus on the Chinese market, prepares to begin production in the world’s biggest auto market. Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, has an Infiniti target of 10 percent of the global premium market by 2020.