- Expertise: Manufacturing, Quality, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, and customer satisfaction and experience
- Location: NTCE Cranfield, UK
- Languages Spoken: English, Portuguese, Spanish
- DOB: May 1972
Who is Yuri Rodrigues?
As VP and Chief Satisfaction Officer for Nissan's AMIEO region, Yuri is responsible for the brand's various customer touchpoints and for translating the voice of the customer into technical language within the Nissan business to foster timely resolution cycles and proactive measures. Yuri oversees customer satisfaction and experience that encompass all the experience from prior to purchase a brand's product and/or service, and throughout the customer experience during its life cycle, also mention as the customer journey experience within our Brand.
Career History
Yuri started assuming is current role in October 2020, having previously held the same position for Nissan in Europe. Before this, Yuri was the Global Chief Quality Engineer for Infiniti, Nissan's premium brand, and was located in Japan where he was responsible for end-to-end customer satisfaction of product development. Prior to his time in Japan, Yuri held the positions of both Director and Senior Director in Nissan's LATAM region, headquartered in Brazil, where he oversaw brand customer satisfaction and product quality of operations for over 35 markets.
Before he joined Nissan in 2011, Yuri worked with other OEMs such as Toyota, Daimler, Chrysler and BMW. Starting his career on the shop floor as a mechanical engineer, he then moved up the ranks to hold various jobs across the supply chain, including Plant Manager, and has now amassed 25 years of experience within the automotive industry.
Achievements
The launch of the previous generation March (Micra in Europe) and Versa in Nissan's LATAM region under Greenfield plant, supplier base, and organisation structure with limited resources is one of Yuri's biggest achievements. He also says the global launch of Infiniti's QX50, in which he was given the experience to work alongside several different regions including those of Japan, Europe, China and North America, to supply vehicles for over 50 countries from 2 manufacturing plants in Mexico and China was another moment he is proud to have been a part of. Outside of vehicle launches, Yuri says having the opportunity to consolidate Nissan's LATAM region into one team – one organisation-one structure -consisting of over 35 countries with different languages and cultures – was a very rewarding experience.
Personal Memory
Yuri says being part of the LATAM region when the team was able to win two Nissan global internal awards from the CEO for their work with the Nissan March and Versa becoming the TOP 1 customer choice in their respective segments, was extremely special. Not only did this represent a great achievement for the team, but Yuri says it just reinforced the ability and processes of the group and showed how that by working together, they were able to overachieve against their objectives. It was truly the “Power comes from inside” in reference of the Nissan Way.
Why is Nissan different?
Having worked at various different automotive companies, Yuri says that Nissan is a truly international company that truly acknowledges the uniqueness and diversity of each of its regions and uses this to its advantage. He also says that Nissan is very innovative in its vision for the future which can be seen by the move to transform itself into a mobility company before other OEMs made the leap with the launch of the all-electric Nissan LEAF 10 years ago.
Future Predictions
While Yuri recognises that Nissan has challenges ahead, as does the automotive industry more broadly, he says the company has a brilliant future ahead of it due to the incredible talent and skill level of its employees combined with a solid Midterm Plan - Nissan NEXT.
Education
- Executive Programme in Strategy and Organisation, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2019)
- Executive Programme in Business Administration, The Wharton School (2018)
- Master of Automotive Engineering, University of Michigan (1997-1998)
- Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal da Bahia (1992-1996)
In Yuri's Personal Time
In his spare time, Yuri likes to invest in activities that positively impact his physical and mental wellbeing. This includes golfing, running marathons and spending time with his wife and two daughters. Yuri also likes to socialise with friends while enjoying famous Brazilian meet “picanha”, with Argentinian wine.
Your Current Car
Yuri currently drives a Nissan Qashqai.
Your First Car
Yuri's first car was a 1972 Volkswagen station wagon.
