Michael Bartsch, former chief operating officer of Porsche Cars North America, will take the helm of Infiniti’s Americas unit next month.
Infiniti says Bartsch, 54, and a native Australian, will replace the departing Ben Poore as vice president-Infiniti Americas.
Poore arrived at Infiniti in 2008 from Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury unit.
Porsche Cars NA announced Bartsch’s departure this morning, noting he recently had been promoted to helm Porsche’s Australian unit. He joined the German manufacturer in 1984.
Bartsch is one in a series of recent hires by Infiniti, as it tries to remake itself into a Tier 1 luxury player in the U.S. and globally.
Earlier this week the Japanese luxury brand, which has seen U.S. sales fall 9.1% through July to 59,995 units, appointed Simon Cox to lead Infiniti’s design studio in London and Vincent Gillet as vice president-marketing.
