Jim Wright has been appointed as managing director of Nissan Motor GB.

He will replace Paul Willcox, who has been made senior vice-president, sales and marketing for Nissan in Europe, succeeding Simon Thomas who is leaving the company.

Willcox had been with Nissan since 1992 in various roles, and since he became UK managing director in 2008 has been driving the brand forward in terms of quality and customer experience.

Wright is currently European vice-president for Nissan’s luxury brand, Infiniti. The move will mark a return to Nissan GB for Wright, who previously worked at the company’s Maple Cross headquarters from 1993 until 2000 in various sales and marketing roles, before moving to Europe to take positions with both Nissan and Infiniti.

Wright said: “I’m thrilled to be returning to Nissan GB at such an exciting time for the company. No other company has such a diverse and innovative product line-up, ranging from the all-electric Nissan Leaf to the GT-R supercar.

"The Qashqai is a top-10 seller in the UK, and total sales topped 100,000 last year.

“I look forward to taking Nissan even further forward in the future.”

The changes take place on August 1.