Nissan Motor GB’s former fleet sales director Michael Auliar has been appointed as the brand’s new sales director, effective 4 April.

Michael Auliar, Nissan Motor GB sales director

Auliar has worked for Nissan since 1998 and has spent the last seven years in Europe. This includes his most recent role as sales director for Nissan Nordic Europe.

He returns to NMGB as the brand pushes ahead with the launches of five new models this year, including its flagship Ariya electric SUV and the Qashqai e-Power hybrid, along with new digital platforms.

Andrew Humberstone, managing director at Nissan GB, said: “I am delighted to welcome Michael back as UK sales director and his many years of experience with Nissan will be invaluable in what promises to be an exciting and transformative year for our company.”

Auliar started his career with Nissan GB straight from university and spent the first 12 years in a variety of roles including aftersales, vehicle distribution, product, marketing, dealer, customer quality and training. After two years in international strategy and business transformation, and as a European product manager, he returned to GB for three years, working as used car business manager and fleet sales director.

From 2015, he worked in France as regional sales director, and – from 2018 – in Finland, first as customer quality & network development director before moving to his most recent role as Nissan Nordic Europe sales director in 2019.

“I’m delighted to be back in the UK at a really exciting time for Nissan dealers,” said Auliar. “With a strong focus on driving customer quality, it is clear that the network has made huge strides in improving the quality of business which has translated into big improvements to the network’s bottom line.

“I am focused on continuing this very positive trend and pushing even further with the phenomenal new products that we have coming, and the new customers that they will attract.”