Peter McDonald has been appointed as the new fleet director of Nissan, replacing Iker Lazzari who left earlier in the year.

The former Seat fleet boss is tasked with pushing the Japanese brand’s electric models.

He said: “Corporate Fleets are currently managing the complexity that comes from the inevitable transition to electric vehicles and are looking for trusted and experienced partners that can provide support and advice.

“I’m really excited to be joining the brand that has the most experience in selling electric vehicles to fleets in the UK, and looking forward to working with the Nissan leadership team, dealer network and supplier base to simplify this complexity and accelerate this change for customers.”

McDonald has extensive experience of the UK automotive market, and fleet in particular, having been with the Volkswagen Group for nearly 20 years, and leading the Seat UK fleet team for the last six years.        

Under his stewardship, Seat was named most improved fleet manufacturer of the year in the 2018 Fleet News Awards.

Initiatives he introduced included a four-day test drive and an ‘Easy’ initiative which simplified the range and options available to fleet customers.                                                                                                                                                

He joins an established team with substantial fleet industry experience that includes: Adam Connelly, national corporate fleet manager; Mark Johnson, national leasing manager; Marco Capozzoli national dealer fleet manager; Kevin Childs, national rental & broker manager; and Adam Hurren, fleet operations manager.

Lazzari left Nissan to re-join VWFS UK after a two-year absence, commencing his new role on August 1.