Autoblog's Matt Davis named Infiniti global product and brand communications director

Tue, 03 Jun 2014

The door that separates automotive journalism and automaker PR swings both ways, and swings often as we see journalists move over to PR and vice versa. This time, however, it's one of ours.

That would be Matt Davis, longtime European correspondent for Autoblog and frequent contributor to numerous other publications including AutoWeek, Edmunds and Esquire. He was co-founder and longtime chairman of the World Car of the Year Awards, and serves on the jury for the International Engine of the Year awards as well. Matt has resided in Milan since 2001, writing for publications around the world in a number of languages, but will now be moving to Hong Kong.

That's where he will be taking up his new position as Global Director of Production and Brand Communications for Infiniti, which relocated its global headquarters to Hong Kong from Japan more than two years ago. In his new capacity, which he officially assumes on July 14, Davis will report directly to Infiniti's general manager of communications Stefan Weinmann.

We reached out to Davis this morning with regards to his new position, and he was kind enough to pass on some thoughts about the upcoming post and his time with Autoblog: "Something of key interest to me is getting Infiniti as onboard as possible with the online world," said Davis. "Any company continuing to give short shrift to any part of the Internet is only hurting itself. My time with Autoblog really enlightened me this way."

While you look over the details of his appointment in the press release below, all of us at Autoblog would like to take the opportunity to wish our favorite bald man the best of luck in his new job and home. In boca al lupo, Matt!

INFINITI NAMES MATTHEW DAVIS AS DIRECTOR, GLOBAL PRODUCT & BRAND COMMUNICATIONS
03/06/14

Hong Kong – Infiniti Motor Company, Ltd., appointed Matthew Davis as their new global Product & Brand Communications Director effective July 14. In this position, he will be based at the company's global headquarters in Hong Kong and report directly to Stefan Weinmann, General Manager, Infiniti Communications. Davis will be responsible for directing and implementing all communications plans related to Infiniti products, technologies, design, and the brand overall.

Davis is a seasoned automotive journalist who brings a wealth of experience to Infiniti. Before joining the company, he spent fifteen years testing and reporting on models from automotive brands around the world. He has been based in Milan, Italy, since 2001. Davis is a co-founder of the World Car of the Year Awards and has acted as chairman of the awards since 2009. Before automotive testing, writing, and consulting, he worked his way to Creative Director in the advertising business in the United States, collaborating with clients from multiple industries, including automotive.

"Joining the Infiniti team in Hong Kong is a truly rare and thrilling opportunity for me to combine all that I've done into one role with an ambitious company," said Davis. "Infiniti has embarked on a huge product offensive, and being part of the team that is charged to shape the brand and the business around the world is very exciting."

By Noah Joseph