Nobuo Okubo, Chief Technology Officer of Nissan Motor Company, has joined FISITA’s Executive Board as Vice President Internal Relations. He will have responsibility for leading co-operation among the federation’s 37 member societies, as well as the development of new membership activities.
Mr. Okubo has a distinguished career with Nissan. He joined the company in 1964 after graduating in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. By 1986 he had risen to become Deputy General Manager of the Chassis Design Department and in 1992 he was promoted to Member of the Board of Directors in charge of the Interior Equipment Design Department, Body Development Department and Vehicle Development Departments 1 and 2, as well as Body Design.
In 1997 he became Managing Director in charge of the Product and Technology Planning Department; Environmental and Safety Engineering Department; Vehicle Development Department and General Manager of the Customer Service Department. He was appointed an Executive Vice President in 1999 and supervised the Engineering Research and Development Group until March 2005, when he was appointed Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Okubo is married and his interests include golf and tennis.
Welcoming him to the board, FISITA President Dan Hancock said “Nobuo Okubo’s experience at the highest level, both within Nissan and the Japan Society of Automotive Engineers (JSAE), will be a great addition to FISITA’s leadership team.”
Mr. Okubo replaces Mr. Kenichi Sasaki as FISITA’s VP Internal Relations. Mr. Hancock paid tribute to Mr. Sasaki who served on FISITA’s Executive Board for 4 years saying that “Mr. Sasaki was a committed and highly effective Vice President for FISITA. We will miss his friendship as well as his insights and we wish him well in his retirement”.