Andy Palmer was never going to be the chief executive of Nissan in Japan. He once sat in the court of Carlos Ghosn, the powerful boss of the Renault-Nissan alliance, and gained a reputation as something of an auto-industry polymath, able to craft both widgets and marketing strategies.
He ran the Infiniti luxury marque and, for the Nissan brand, developed mass-market vehicles that carved new niches in a crowded market. But Mr Palmer — like others in a growing band of middle-aged auto executives — hit what might be termed the “Ghosn ceiling”, destined never to replace the indefatigable French-Lebanese-Brazilian.
“I wanted to be the CEO of a car company — have wanted to be since I was 20-years-old,” he says. “I don’t think