New President For Mitsubishi Motors Australia

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – March 4, 2011: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has announced the appointment of Genichiro (Gen) Nishina to the position of president and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL), effective April 1st 2011.

Mr Nishina will replace Masahiko Takahashi, a long-time and highly regarded MMAL employee, who has accepted a promotion to MMC’s head office where he will oversee the strengthening of sales and manufacturing programs at Mitsubishi Motors North America.

Mr Nishina, who commenced with MMC in 1980, has most recently held the position of corporate general manager of ASEAN operations, overseeing MMC business in the field of vehicle sales and production in the region. He has a wealth of experience in product planning and marketing, and has spent the majority of his career in senior positions in either the European market, where he was president of Mitsubishi Motors Europe BV, or in the North American operations of MMC.

Announcing the appointments, Osamu Masuko, President of MMC, said the personnel changes signalled Mitsubishi Motors’ growing global orientation under the company’s new Jump 2013 initiative, which aims for “growth and a leap forward” and will feature such international vehicle platforms as the Concept Global Small, unveiled this week at the Geneva International Motor Show.

Masahiko Takahashi said that his tenure in Australia, while at times challenging, had been richly rewarding.

“Assisting MMAL’s full-line importing operation to become established during difficult times, and then growing the business over the past twelve months, has been one of the highlights of my career.

“I would especially like to thank the entire Mitsubishi Motors dealer and employee family for their loyalty and co-operation during my Australian stay,” Mr Takahashi said.

Gen Nishina said that he was looking forward to heading “down under.”

“Over the coming years, we have several very exciting international products on the drawing board, and I look forward to introducing them to the Australian market,” he said.