Nissan Appoints BMW Executive to Head Infiniti

TOKYO-- Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday that it had named Roland Krüger, a BMW executive, as head of its Infiniti luxury car division, moving swiftly to fill one of the positions left vacant by the pending departure of Andy Palmer, a top Nissan manager.

Mr. Krüger, most recently a senior vice president at BMW, has served in a variety of positions with the German luxury car maker, including product planning and marketing posts and president of its Japan unit.

"He brings unique leadership skills that will accelerate Infiniti's progress in the global premium market," said Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan, in a statement.

Nissan has been trying to turn around Infiniti, which has struggled in the global market against German luxury brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, as well as Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus division.

Infiniti has been subject to considerable turnover in the executive suite. Mr. Palmer was overseeing Infiniti on an interim basis, after the departure of the division's chief, Johan de Nysschen, this summer.

Mr. De Nysschen, who had served in that job for only two years, left to take the top job at General Motors Co.'s Cadillac unit, while Mr. Palmer is set to take over as chief executive of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., the British sports car maker.

While these and other departures from Nissan have raised concern among analysts about an exodus of talent, Mr. Ghosn has also touted recruits from other auto makers. The appointment of Mr. Krüger adds another name to the auto maker's list of multinational executives.

Mr. Krüger, a German national, has also worked for Mitsubishi Motors Europe and Daimler Group.

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