Following their announcement of convergence study projects in four key areas – Engineering, Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management, Purchasing, and Human Resources – the carmakers have now announced a newly appointed alliance executive vice president leading each function and a management committee to oversee implementation.

‘Convergence within these four key business functions will result in an immediate increase in efficiency and leverage our size to achieve competitive economies of scale,’ said Renault-Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn. ‘The synergies will then enable us to deliver higher-value vehicles to customers and stay at the leading edge of innovation.’

The four converged alliance functions are:

Engineering: Renault and Nissan will combine Common Module Family engineering, advanced research, powertrain development (including electric vehicles), systems engineering and testing facilities and services. This will be presided over by Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, alliance director of platforms and parts.

Manufacturing Engineering & Supply Chain Management: The new Alliance converged manufacturing function will cover global industrial strategy (including sourcing), production process engineering, production control and supply chain management. Shohei Kimura, Nissan corporate vice president for vehicle production engineering, is appointed the alliance executive vice president here.

Purchasing: Although the two carmakers have enjoyed an integrated purchasing organisation for more than a decade, the Alliance said convergence of major engineering and manufacturing activities will drive greater purchasing synergies and more economies of scale. Christian Vandenhende, managing director of the Renault-Nissan purchasing organisation, takes on the alliance executive vice president role.

Human Resources: Renault and Nissan teams will implement common HR processes throughout the Alliance, including the creation of a unified ‘talent management’ policy across the companies’ global operations. Marie-Francoise Damesin, Renault executive vice president for human resources, is appointed Alliance Executive Vice President, Alliance Human Resources. In addition, Greg Kelly, Nissan senior vice president of the CEO Office and global human resources, is appointed alliance executive vice president, alliance talent management.

To assist with the deployment and ongoing development of the new organisational structure, a new Management Committee Alliance will be established, headed by Carlos Ghosn. In addition, Christian Mardrus, senior vice president and managing director for the Alliance CEO Office and Global Logistics, will become alliance executive vice president for Renault-Nissan BV and the Alliance CEO Office.