new nissan quality control VP

[MemTitan]

This could lead to a lot of the little bugs certainly being worked out for the '05s...

Nissan Names New Quality Vice President [Sept. 13, 04]

Doug Betts joins Nissan’s U.S. Manufacturing organization

SMYRNA, Tenn. (Sept. 13, 2004) – Nissan North America, Inc., (NNA) today announced the appointment of a new vice president of quality for its North American manufacturing operations.

Douglas G. Betts, formerly general manager of Quality at Toyota’s Princeton, Ind., plants, is now vice president, Product Quality, effective today.

“Doug is a strong addition to our management team. He replaces Mo Brunelle, who retired September 1 after 23 years with Nissan,” said Dan Gaudette, NNA senior vice president of North American Manufacturing and Quality Assurance. “We’ve been aware of Mo’s impending retirement, and that gave us the time and opportunity to search internally and externally to find the best person. Doug’s work in quality, engineering and manufacturing is the right mix of experience and expertise Nissan requires in this position.”

Betts has been with Toyota since 1997 and was responsible for all quality-related activities, including Quality Engineering, Supplier Quality Assurance and Inspection Operations. Prior to his work at Toyota, Doug held management positions in production and quality for Michelin North America, Inc.

Since Nissan first established a manufacturing presence in the United States in 1980, the company has invested more than $4 billion in its three U.S. manufacturing facilities. The three plants combined employ approximately 12,000 employees. The Smyrna, Tenn., plant builds Nissan Maxima sports sedans, Nissan Xterra sport utility vehicles, Nissan Frontier compact pickup trucks, Nissan Altima midsize sedans and the all-new Nissan Pathfinder mid-size SUV. The Canton, Miss., plant builds the Nissan Quest minivan, the Titan full-size pick-up truck, the Armada full-size SUV, the Infiniti QX56 full-size luxury SUV and additional Altima sedans. In Decherd, Tenn., Nissan builds engines for all U.S.-produced Nissan and Infiniti vehicles and assembles transaxles.

In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.infiniti.com.

[CoachBoone]

Or is this guy a Q-head for new production?

[rarjar]

If I knew how to get a message to Betts, I would suggest he read this forum thoroughly to see if he can find a way to fix many of the major problems apparently many Titan owners are having with the 04's before he spends too much time ensuring the 05's don't have similar problems. If the 04 problems are "left to lay" and not addressed, the potential buyer pool for 05's may shrink significantly. My 2 cents worth.

[MemTitan]

Originally Posted by CoachBoone

Or is this guy a Q-head for new production?

Hopefully for new production. The '04s may have been perfect had the existing QA VP not had shortimers disease.

[caltitan]

"He replaces Mo Brunelle, who retired September 1 after 23 years with Nissan,” said Dan Gaudette, NNA senior vice president of North American Manufacturing and Quality Assurance. “We’ve been aware of Mo’s impending retirement, and that gave us the time and opportunity to search internally and externally to find the best person..."
Translated: Caught him locked up in his office reading golfing vacation brochures instead of walking the assembly lines.

Sorry, I'm sure Mo was a nice well meaning exec. Interesting they are bringing someone in instead of someone up for the job, so how much this change will effect the Titan QA process in Canton remains to be seen. Sounds like Nissan is making an effort to improve the overall quality of all their US manufactured vehicles.

[greg w]

Didn't I just read the other day that Toyotas quality has declined over the last severa; years and they are recommiting themselves to quality? Hope getting rid of betts wasn't part of that.

[calgary_redneck]

Originally Posted by greg w

Didn't I just read the other day that Toyotas quality has declined over the last severa; years and they are recommiting themselves to quality? Hope getting rid of betts wasn't part of that.

They are still the undisputed leader in quality