Mike Whitfield has returned to Nissan SA, the company he joined as a trainee in 1981, to replace Julio Panama as the Rosslyn-based manufacturer's new managing director.

Whitfield is the first South African to head the company since John Newbury left in 1997, shortly after Nissan Motor Co of Japan bought control. Since then, it has been run by Isao Aoki, a Japanese national, and Panama.

Whitfield was the first South African to receive an international posting within Nissan when he relocated to Scandinavia in 2005 to run operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

Peugeot South Africa's General Manager of Public Relations, Lee Luck, left the French manufacturer's South African subsidiary on 15 May. She has been appointed as Communications Manager for Zubair Corporation in Oman, which represent 13 automotive brands, and various other chains.

Frontline tyre retail franchise group, Hi-Q, has appointed ex-PG Glass Marketing Director Sean Harrison, 41, to lead the network as Managing Director.

John Laurence, Divisional Manager of Marketing at Honda SA, has resigned to pursue interests outside of the motor industry.

Aluwani Ramabulana has been appointed the new chief executive officer of Daimler Fleet Management, trading as debis Fleet Management (dFM). He joined Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS) in 2006 as director for strategic business development after holding several senior positions at Absa and Nedbank. He replaces Dan Moeletsi, who left the company last year to pursue personal business interests.

Richard Demuynck was recently appointed General Motors SA's Vice President for Vehicle Assembly Operations. He took over from Michael Pearton, who is on an international assignment in North America. Demuynck, a Manufacturing Systems Engineer with a Masters degree in Business Administration, joins GMSA after 24 years in vehicle assembly operations. His previous assignments included assistant plant manager, general assembly area manager and quality manager at various plants in North America.

Mercedes-Benz South Africa has announced that Ian Riley has been appointed divisional manager for Freightliner, FUSO and Western Star commercial vehicle brands. Riley joined Mercedes-Benz South Africa in 1999. In July 2006, he was appointed manager: marketing and communications for Freightliner and FUSO. His most recent position, which began in July 2007, was acting general manager: Freightliner, FUSO and Western Star.

Renault South Africa has appointed Tim Marriott to the position of Vice President: Quality and Service with effect from 1st April 2008.

Tim relocates to South Africa from Renault France where he has spent the past three years - most recently, at the new Renault Academy situated at the Plessis-Robinson site outside Paris. With a degree in Business and Marketing (Humberside, UK) as well as a Post Graduate marketing degree (Bournemouth, UK), he commenced his career with Renault UK 15 years ago.

"It is my intention to further progress already improved customer service levels relative to before- and after-sales service quality and ensure that our customers' experiences at each step throughout the process contributes to their satisfaction and loyalty to the Renault brand," Marriot said.