Robert J. Thomas Takes Over as CEO of Nissan U.S.A.

Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A. said Monday that Thomas D. Mignanelli has resigned as president and chief executive for personal reasons. He is being replaced by Robert J. Thomas.

Mignanelli, who has been with Nissan since 1987, recently underwent quadruple bypass surgery. A Nissan spokesman said that Mignanelli indicated that he wanted to step back and re-evaluate his life.

Nissan has been struggling in its home market in Japan, but the auto maker has recently made some inroads in the United States. Its sales here are up 16.9% for the first three months of 1993 on the strength on its Altima mid-size sedan and Quest minivan.

Thomas, 48, was vice president of corporate strategy and resource development for Nissan. He joined Nissan in 1982 after working 10 years for Ford Motor Co.

In a statement, Thomas said there would be no management changes at the vehicle divisions of Nissan or Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury car unit. The company announced two other management changes:

Ronald R. Hannum was named vice president and general manager of the operations support group, overseeing all of Nissan’s U.S. parts, service and consumer affairs operations.

Also, Sheleme Sendaba was named vice president of logistics. He will be in charge of Nissan’s U.S. operations for vehicle parts, transportation, processing, warehouse and port logistics.