OREANDA-NEWS. The Renault-Nissan Alliance has hired technology executive Ogi Redzic to lead the global car group's connected car initiative as Alliance Senior Vice President, Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services.

Redzic, 45, joins Renault-Nissan after positions at Nokia, NAVTEQ, Motorola, and at wireless communication startup cyberPIXIE. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, Automotive at Nokia HERE, where he led the Automotive Business Group. In this role, he managed a team of more than 600 people on five continents, with major development centers in Germany and the United States. His team led HERE's efforts in Embedded Navigation, Automotive Cloud Services, Intelligent Transportation Services and Automated Driving, including HD Live Map.

Redzic, whose new role is effective immediately, will be based in Paris and oversee teams in Renault's TechnoCentre in France and Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Japan. Redzic will be responsible for accelerating the validation process for connectivity applications so customers can experience it across all Alliance brands. The team will also develop and manage partnerships with technology companies and relevant suppliers, and encourage a startup mindset within one of the world's top four car groups. Finally, the team will also be introducing new mobility services on behalf of the Alliance.

He will jointly report to Nissan Chief Competitive Officer Hiroto Saikawa and Renault Chief Competitive Officer Thierry Bollore. Saikawa and Bollore issued a joint statement regarding Redzic's hire:

"Ogi is an enthusiastic technology leader with two decades of experience at Fortune 100 companies and startups on three continents—the right profile for an all-new position overseeing our next-generation technologies," Saikawa and Bollore stated.

Most recently living in Chicago, Redzic has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Northeastern Illinois University, a master's degree in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Redzic is also a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Automotive & Personal Transportation organized by World Economic Forum.

About the Renault-Nissan Alliance
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between Paris-based Renault and Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, which together sell one in 10 cars worldwide. The companies, which have been strategic partners since 1999, sold 8.5 million vehicles in nearly 200 countries in 2014. The Alliance has strategic collaborations with automakers including Germany's Daimler, Japan's Mitsubishi, China's Dongfeng, and India's Ashok Leyland. The Alliance also owns a majority stake in the joint venture which controls Russia's AVTOVAZ, maker of the Lada brand.