Japanese automotive giant, Nissan has made its Turkey country office the management center for eight North African countries and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the company confirmed in a statement.

The decision will expand the sphere of responsibility for Sinan Özkök, Nissan Turkey's managing director. He has now been appointed as the Managing Director for North Africa and CIS countries.

As of April 1, Özkök will handle Nissan operations in Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. According to the statement, the company's activities in these countries were previously managed within the Middle East region.

Nissan Turkey, which started to operate under the global umbrella of the brand in 2015, is continuously increasing its market share, it has retained its leading position in the SUV market with a 19 percent share. Nissan Turkey has also set an example to other countries with its innovative practices.

Following the decision, Özkök said: "North Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States are high potential markets for our brand. We are happy to contribute to the development of our brand by moving our knowledge and experience to a vast region, spanning from Casablanca to Tashkent. In this period where we are experiencing shrinkage in the domestic market, this decision will be a source of motivation for our team working in Turkey and create new excitement."

Having started his career in the automotive industry in 1993, Özkök worked on logistics and product planning. Since 2001, he worked on strategic planning in Renault France and served as Paris regional manager. After returning to Turkey in 2007, Özkök served in many high-level positions such as dealer development, branch management and sales and network directorship.

He was appointed Nissan Turkey Managing Director in October 2015 and managed to make the brand the leader in SUV segments and one of the top 10 automotive brands in the country.