Nissan Names New President of U.S. Division

Kazutoshi Hagiwara has been named president of Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A., the American arm of the Japanese auto maker, Nissan announced Monday.

Hagiwara succeeds Tetsuo Arakawa, who has been named executive managing director of Nissan in Tokyo after serving as president of Nissan U.S.A. for six years.

Hagiwara, 50, noted in a prepared statement that Arakawa’s tenure saw the company’s combined car and truck sales increase 43%, to 820,000 vehicles last year, an all-time high.

“It is with a great deal of humility that I accept this new assignment,” Hagiwara said. “I only hope that I am half as successful as my predecessor in meeting the tremendous challenges and opportunities we face in a highly competitive market.”

Hagiwara, 50, has been with Nissan since 1959. His first tour of duty at Nissan U.S.A.’s Carson headquarters ran from 1970 to 1978, when he served as vice president for both import/distribution and marketing/information systems. After spending the intervening years in Japan, he returned to Carson last April as vice president and general manager of marketing and public relations.