Mitsubishi Motors has announced that automotive veteran Fred Diaz will be taking over as president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America. Diaz will replace Ryujiro Kobashi, who will return to Japan in an unspecified role at Mitsubishi.
Diaz was formerly with Chrysler and was best known there for his part in pickup trucks, including the brand move from Dodge to Ram. He left Chrysler a few years ago to join the Nissan team just before the launch of the new Titan and Titan XD trucks.
With Nissan now having ownership stake in Mitsubishi through the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, Diaz’s move to head up the struggling automaker is a lateral one.
Mitsubishi’s sales in the United States topped 100,000 units in 2017 with the company planning to add 30,000 more to that number this year. Much of that from the new Eclipse Cross (pictured), which debuts this year.
