Nissan Names Simon Firth as new MD of Saudi Subsidiary

Nissan has named Simon Frith as the new Managing Director of Nissan Saudi Arabia Co., Ltd. He took up his new role from the first of June. The creation of the new position is meant to strengthen Nissan’s operations in the kingdom. Earlier, Samir Cherfan, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East had been overseeing Nissan Saudi’s operations in Saudi Arabia. Firth will work from the company’s office in Jeddah and will report to Samir Cherfan, the Managing Director of Nissan Middle East.

In addition to being a CIMA Qualified Accountant, Frith has a BSc in Business Finance & Economics from the University of East Anglia in the UK. He is no stranger to the Middle East as he was the Managing Director of Al-Futtaim Motors in Dubai from 2007 through 2013, before moving on to a position as Director, marketing services, for Abdul Latif Jameel from 2013. His most recent stint was as the business director, Lexus pision, Al Sayer Group, which he held since 2015.

Nissan had established a direct presence in Saudi Arabia by setting up Nissan Saudi Arabia back in 2013 in order to build on its presence in the country for over six decades. Nissan’s goal is to build a strong customer-focused dealer network across the country to showcase its entire range of vehicles and to deliver the complete Nissan brand experience to Saudi customers. In March 2016, Nissan had reached an agreement with Petromin Corporation, to become its second dealer partner in addition to Alissa Auto in order to drive its growth and dealer expansion in the kingdom.

With Alissa Auto and Petromin on board as distribution partners, Nissan Saudi Arabia is all set to increase the number of dealer outlets and thus offer the best service to customers. Nissan Saudi Arabia currently has about 50 employees and plans to shortly increase this workforce to 80 employees in the future, making it necessary to appoint a full-time Managing Director in order to lead the team effectively. Commenting on the new appointment, Samir Cherfan, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East said, “Saudi Arabia is a key market for Nissan. Simon has already demonstrated his auto industry prowess in senior operational roles, and his business acumen and deep regional experience will help us boost our expansion and fuel Nissan’s future success in the Kingdom.”

Simon Frith will report to Cherfan, and his appointment will help Nissan to focus more on the Saudi market, freeing Cherfan to concentrate on overall regional management of Nissan’s business in the Middle East.

In addition to being a CIMA Qualified Accountant, Frith has a BSc in Business Finance & Economics from the University of East Anglia in the UK. He is no stranger to the Middle East as he was the Managing Director of Al-Futtaim Motors in Dubai from 2007 through 2013, before moving on to a position as Director, marketing services, for Abdul Latif Jameel from 2013. His most recent stint was as the business director, Lexus pision, Al Sayer Group, which he held since 2015.