January 17, 2024
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nissan North America has named Vinay Shahani as senior vice president, U.S. Marketing and Sales. His appointment is effective January 18.
Shahani replaces Mike Colleran, who is retiring from Nissan on March 31, after more than 12 years in top regional and global leadership positions.
As senior vice president, Shahani will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities for the Nissan brand in the United States. He will also have oversight of INFINITI Americas.
“As we accelerate the transformation we started with Nissan NEXT, Vinay brings a unique blend of Nissan background and experience with successful global automotive brands,” said Jérémie Papin, chairperson, Nissan Americas. “Vinay is an ideal choice to lead our brands into the future, driving performance and innovation while maintaining our people-centric culture.”
Shahani Career Highlights:
2021-2024: Vice President of Marketing, Lexus USA
2017-2021: Vice President, Integrated Marketing Operations, Toyota North America
2013-2017: Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Volkswagen of America
Shahani’s work history includes nearly decade at Nissan North America. After starting in a job as an engineering manager at the Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant in 2004, he quickly moved into a managerial role within the company’s marketing and sales function. From there, he held roles of increasing responsibility in sales operations; aftersales; product marketing; field sales; and marketing communications and media.
Mike Colleran joined Nissan in 2011 as vice president of Sales for Nissan Canada, and then moved to oversee Nissan’s Northeast region in the U.S. He also held leadership positions overseeing the INFINITI brand, first as group vice president for INFINITI Americas, and then as global divisional vice president and vice chairman for INFINITI Motor Company, Ltd. He returned to the U.S. as senior vice president, U.S. Marketing and Sales in 2020, to implement the Nissan NEXT transformation.
“Mike Colleran has been instrumental in our Nissan NEXT transformation, providing strong and steady leadership inside the company while rebuilding the critical relationships with our U.S. dealer network,” said Papin. “Mike has led Nissan and INFINITI through challenging times, and he has our utmost gratitude as he moves onto a well-deserved retirement.”
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