Renault executive vice-president Katsumi Nakamura was appointed head of the French carmaker's China business operations on March 9. He reports to Carlos Tavares, CEO of both Renault and Nissan Motor Corp.

Born in 1953, Nakamura joined Nissan in 1978 and was president of the Japanese carmaker's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp in China from 2003 to 2008. He then served as executive vice-president of Renault and chairman of Asia-Africa Region.

Renault's exports to China last year jumped 65 percent to 24,275 cars. The company plans to begin local production with Dongfeng in 2014 or 2015.