- Christian Meunier is expected to become Chairperson of Nissan Americas, overseeing operations in two regions.
- This would put the former Jeep boss in charge of the Nissan and Infiniti brands in North and South America.
- Meunier previously served as Infiniti’s Global President and appears to have a number of fans at the automaker.
Nissan, Infiniti and Jeep don’t have much in common, but all three brands are struggling with declining sales. That isn’t the only thing that connects them as Christian Meunier left his role as Chairman and Global President of Infiniti to become the Global President of Jeep in 2019.
He left that role last year and it appears he’s returning to the Nissan mother ship. That’s according to two people who spoke to Auto News, telling the publication that Meunier will replace Jérémie Papin as Chairperson of Nissan Americas. This will put him in charge of the Nissan and Infiniti brands in North and South America.
More: Things Are So Bad At Infiniti That Stores Can Now Be Paired With Nissan Dealerships
Papin, in turn, will reportedly be promoted to Nissan’s chief financial officer. He would replace Stephen Ma, who had been rumored to be on his way out. The changes could take place on January 1 and more shakeups are possible.
That remains to be seen, but problems at Nissan and Infiniti are well-known at this point. Last year, the mainstream brand sold 834,097 vehicles in the United States, which is nearly 300,000 units less than a decade ago. That’s a drop of 26.3%, but Infiniti is even worse off as sales have plummeted nearly 45% in the past ten years.
While Nissan has reason to be optimistic thanks to new and updated models, things at Infiniti are going to get worse as the Q50 is going away for 2025. Sales have fallen significantly in recent years, but the aging sedan still found 4,138 buyers in the first nine months of the year. That made the car more popular than the newer QX55 crossover coupe.
Nissan’s struggles have led to a partnership with Honda and Auto News reports the firm might soon take a stake in their former rival. If everything pans out, an announcement could occur as early as next month.
