Sony Corp. elected Neil Vander Dussen vice...

Sony Corp. elected Neil Vander Dussen vice chairman of its Park Ridge, N.J.-based Sony Corp. of America unit, effective Jan. 1, in a reorganization designed to decentralize the the electronics company in the 1990s.

Vander Dussen, currently Sony Corp. of America’s president and chief operating officer, will oversee all of Sony’s electronics manufacturing, magnetic products activities, electronics sales and marketing in the United States.

Ron Sommer, former president of Sony Deutschland and deputy president of Sony Corp. of America since April, will succeed Vander Dussen as president and chief operating officer at the American unit. Sony’s U.S. sales total more than $4.5 billion. It operates seven major manufacturing plants in the United States and employs some 12,000 people.