Kimura joined Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., in April 1979 after graduating from Shizuoka University’s Faculty of Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has been with Nissan throughout his 35-year career, including postings in Japan, North America and India.

 

Kimura began his career at Nissan in various management positions within the engineering function in Japan. He became Deputy General Manager of the Production Engineering Stamping Engineering Dept. in April 2001. In October 2002, he was transferred to the Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and also gained experience at Nissan North America, Inc. from April 2004.

 

In April 2006, Kimura was appointed General Manager of the Oppama Plant. In February 2008, he was appointed Vice President in charge of leading the ramp-up to full operations for Nissan in India, and was transferred to Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. (NMIPL), the Renault-Nissan Alliance plant in Chennai, in September 2008.

 

Kimura was appointed Corporate Vice President of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., in April 2009, responsible for the New Vehicle Production Development Department. As of April 2011, Kimura is Corporate Vice President in charge of the Vehicle Production Engineering Division.

 

On April 1, 2014, Shohei Kimura will become Alliance Executive Vice President for Manufacturing Engineering and Supply Chain. In this position, Kimura will be responsible for the Alliance’s global industrial strategy (including sourcing), production process engineering, production control and supply chain management.