Nissan announced Tuesday that Brian Carolin, sales and marketing senior vice president, will retire after 28 years with the company, with José Muñoz to assume the title, effective April 1, 2013.

Currently, Muñoz serves as senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan Latin America. In his new role with Franklin-based Nissan North America, he will oversee sales and marketing in the U.S. and Canada.

Muñoz (pictured) brought more than a decade of management experience with various automotive companies in Europe when he joined Nissan in 2004. He started as general manager of dealer development for Nissan Europe, and in 2006 became the managing director of Nissan Iberia, S.A., in Spain.

In 2009, Muñoz was named president of Nissan Mexicana. Under his leadership, the NMEX organization achieved the highest market share in Nissan's history and has seen a 42-month run of sales leadership in Mexico. Muñoz was also responsible for developing key dealer network initiatives that led to significant improvements across NMEX's sales network.

"José has a solid record of success and brings robust experience into his new role, and I am confident that his leadership will continue to drive company growth as we aim for further market share growth in the U.S. and Canada," Nissan Americas Chairman Colin Dodge said in a release.

Muñoz holds a doctoral degree in nuclear engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid and a master's degree in business administration from Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid. He has also completed other executive management programs from Cranfield School of Management in the U.K. and INSEAD Business School in France.