Nissan PH to welcome new president

While many companies in the Philippines tend to operate on a calendar year (CY) basis, the Japanese companies all tend to function on an April to March fiscal year (FY) basis to align with headquarters. And it is during the transition to a new FY that many Japanese auto companies tend to initiate a change in leadership.

Such is going to be the case for Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) for FY2024: they will welcome a new chief executive.

Nissan will soon be confirming that Yasuhisa Masuda will take the helm of Nissan’s operations in the Philippine market. The president of Nissan Philippines since 2022, Colombian Juan Manuel Hoyos, will return across the Pacific to take a lead role within Nissan Latin America (LATAM).

Under the stewardship of Hoyos, Nissan experienced strong growth in the Philippines, as the incoming Japanese executive will take charge of a company that has tallied a solid 27,136 unit sales in the 2023 calendar year. That represents a strong 27.87% growth over the previous year and has a 6.15% market share and ranks fourth overall in our combined industry sales figures.

Based on Masuda’s professional profile, he worked with Pioneer Electronics, then went to Procter and Gamble. For the last 12 and a half years, the incoming president of Nissan Philippines has been with Nissan Motor Corporation. Interestingly, his roles at the company have revolved around market intelligence and brand marketing for Japan and ASEAN.

It will indeed be interesting to observe how Nissan will operate in the Philippines over his term, as he will have to contend with the challenges in this very competitive market with a product line that many see as in need of a wider revamp. Moreover, he will have to navigate a market that is seeing the continuous entry of many new Chinese automakers that are starting to attract consumers with improving designs, quality, after sales and pricing.

Masuda will take charge of Nissan Philippines in April.