Nissan has hired Andrew Humberstone as managing director of NMGB, leading sales and marketing operations in its biggest European market.

He will be based at Nissan’s Maple Cross head office in Rickmansworth, near London, and will report to Roel de Vries, senior vice president for sales and marketing in Nissan Europe.

Andrew started working for Nissan Europe in May 2019 and has more than 27 years’ experience in the automotive industry.

Humberstone said: “The UK is our biggest market and is extremely important for Nissan - customers here have taken our electric and crossover models to heart and made Qashqai, Juke and LEAF the leading vehicles in their segments.

“With the all-new Nissan Juke now on sale – and having taken almost three thousand orders since its launch six weeks ago - I’m excited to join the UK team as we look forward to leading a new era of design, electrification and connectivity in our line-up.”

Previously he has worked for companies including Fiat Chrysler, where he held executive positions in international markets including Europe, the Middle East, India and China.

He joins the manufacturer following the launch of the all-new Nissan Juke, and as the company celebrates the 10th birthday of the Nissan LEAF and plans to electrify more than 40% of Nissan vehicles sold in Europe.

Roel de Vries, Nissan senior vice president for sales and marketing in Europe, said: “His leadership in delivering Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies to our UK customers will be vital, as more and more people make the switch to electrified vehicles.”

Humberstone has replaced Kalyana Sivagnanam, who has left Nissan to pursue other opportunities.

Nissan has 28,000 employees in its UK supply chain and 4,000 in its UK dealer network.

Recently, Peter McDonald was appointed as the new fleet director of Nissan, replacing Iker Lazzari.