• by Karl Greenberg , September 2, 2015

Hyundai Motor America says it has tapped Derrick Hatami to VP, national sales. Hatami's role involves the nuts and bolts of distribution and sales, and also the natural-talent job: dealer relations. Hyundai's five U.S. market regions report to him. He will report to President and CEO Dave Zuchowski.

Hatami is coming over to the West Coast from Nissan, where he was VP of U.S. sales for the eponymous division (not Infiniti), and where, according to Hyundai, he set numerous sales records. It might be more accurate to say he is actually returning to Fountain Valley, Calif., as he was general manager for the Western Region at Hyundai Motor America before joining Nissan. He was also involved in strategic planning, market research, pricing and incentives and sales planning there, according to the automaker.

“We couldn't be happier to have Derrick rejoin us,” said Zuchowski, in a statement. “[Hatami's] strategic outlook, vision, planning experience and commitment to dealers makes him a perfect fit to lead our sales operation. Along with his strategic strengths he has proven skills in operations and is known for his dedication to achieving outstanding results. He set sales records with us and in his former position and we look forward to him continuing that run at Hyundai.” Zuchowski said. Hatami started his career at Accenture and J.D. Power.

Late last year Zuchowski moved marketing dollars away from supporting regional dealer ad campaigns to bolster national marketing communications, after a sales slip in November. That was the month former VP marketing Steve Shannon left the company. Hyundai also slimmed down its incentives to salespeople.

The company launched a regional campaign yesterday around its sponsorship of NCAA football. Hyundai’s U.S. operation also posted its best August ever last month, at 72,012, just a bump above last year, reflecting a slight slowdown in the industry after seven torrid months. Year-to-date sales are 514,175, up about 2.3% versus last year.