Before joining Nissan North America (NNA) in 2008 as senior vice president of sales and marketing, Carolin was Nissan Europe's senior vice president of sales and marketing and was responsible for the launch of Infiniti across Europe beginning in 2004. From 1998 to 2004, he was managing director of Nissan in the U.K. and, earlier in his career, held management positions with Nissan Motor Manufacturing U.K. in Sunderland and Nissan Europe in the Netherlands.
"Brian's loyalty and strong leadership were instrumental in helping Nissan to achieve such targets as 8.2 percent market share last year and the company's highest sales volume in the U.S.," said Nissan Americas Chairman Colin Dodge. "We are sincerely grateful for Brian's nearly three decades of service with the company and wish him the best in his retirement."
Carolin plans to return to the U.K. at the end of March in 2013, and during the next quarter he will work closely with Muñoz to transition responsibilities.
Muñoz brought more than a decade of management experience with various automotive companies in Europe when he joined the company in 2004. He started as general manager of dealer development for Nissan Europe, and in 2006 became the managing director of Nissan Iberia, S.A.
In 2009, Muñoz was named president of Nissan Mexicana (NMEX) and under his leadership, the NMEX organization achieved the highest market share in Nissan's history and has seen a 42-month run of sales leadership in Mexico. Muñoz was also responsible for developing key dealer network initiatives that led to significant improvements across NMEX's sales network.
"José has a solid record of success and brings robust experience into his new role, and I am confident that his leadership will continue to drive company growth as we aim for further market share growth in the U.S. and Canada," Dodge said.
Muñoz holds a doctoral degree in nuclear engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid and a master's of business administration from Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid. He has also completed other executive management programs from Cranfield School of Management in the U.K. and INSEAD Business School in France.