Stellantis veteran James Taylor takes MD role at rival car brand

James Taylor, who spent more than 20 years with Stellantis-owned Vauxhall until leaving the company earlier this year, has secured the managing director role at a rival car brand.

Automotive Management has learned that Taylor has been recruited by Nissan to head its national sales company in the UK from May 1.

He will step into the managing director role that was previously occupied by Diana Torres until she left earlier this year. 

Torres was appointed Nissan GB's managing director only one year ago after Andrew Humberstone, who held the role since 2020, got a promotion to head Nissan's Oceania region.

At her appointment in March 2024, Torres said she was delighted to be back in the UK, where she had held her first Nissan post 12 years previously, and she looked forward to working with her team and dealers through a period of significant change in the industry which will need a culture of collaboration, partnership and innovation to ensure continued growth and success.

Taylor started with Vauxhall more than 25 years ago and worked his way up to fleet sales and remarketing director and then sales and marketing director before heading Stellantis UK's group business sales function and then becoming Vauxhall's managing director in 2022.