Nissan North America appointed Allyson Witherspoon its U.S. chief marketing officer, according to a Nov. 19 press release. She replaces Marisstella Marinkovic, who recently left the company.
Witherspoon currently leads global marketing at Nissan Motor Co. as global chief marketing officer and corporate VP of global marketing, brand and merchandising in Yokohama, Japan. She will maintain those roles in addition to her new position.
As CMO in the U.S., she will oversee Nissan’s communications and media and support brand value and customer experience improvement, the company said. In her U.S. marketing role, Witherspoon will report to Vinay Shahani, SVP of Nissan U.S. marketing and sales.
Witherspoon previously served as Nissan North America chief marketing officer from April 2019 though March 2023, before being promoted her global CMO role.
Witherspoon has more than 20 years of automotive marketing experience with a majority of those years at Nissan and its Infiniti luxury vehicle division. Her previous roles with the company include general manager, global brand engagement for Nissan Motor Co. and director of marketing communications for Infiniti Motor Co., according to her LinkedIn profile.
“We’re fortunate to have Allyson rejoining the U.S. leadership team, which puts us in a strong position to make rapid progress in our efforts to transform Nissan’s image in this critical market for the company,” Shahani said in the announcement. “We are at a critical juncture, requiring strong leadership for the brand and in our marketing efforts.”
Nissan recently announced a 6% reduction in its global workforce — approximately 9,000 jobs — due to slowing sales. In its efforts to streamline company operations, Nissan is cutting global production by 20%
