Mr Willcox will replace Simon Thomas, who is leaving the company after 20 years, to pursue a career outside Nissan. He joined Nissan in 1992 and has since held a number of senior positions within the company at both the national and regional level.

Commenting on his appointment, Colin Dodge, EVP and chairman of Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India and European region, said: 'Paul’s appointment in Europe comes as we are making strong progress with our ambition to be the number one Japanese brand in the region.

'We are already there in key markets such as Russia the UK and Spain, our European market share is growing year-on-year, and in 2010 we achieved our highest ever sales total. Paul will ensure that the Europe team stays focused on aggressively pursuing further growth.'

Mr Willcox will initially work between the UK and Nissan International SA based in Rolle, Switzerland before transferring to Switzerland permanently on 1 August 2011.

The company says his successor in the UK will be announced in due course.