Andrew Levermore, the expat CEO of Bharti Retail puts in his papers

He's moved out of Bharti, and Bharat too. In a sudden move, Andrew Levermore, the expat CEO of Bharti Retail, has put in his papers and is headed back to home country, South Africa. Levermore had joined the fully-owned subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises as chief operating officer in July 2010.

Says a Bharti spokesperson: "We can confirm that Andrew Levermore has moved on from Bharti Retail as he wanted to return to South Africa to start his own business venture. The company will appoint an appropriate replacement in due course." This is Levermore's second exit from India. The first was in mid-2008 when he quit K Raheja's HyperCity Retail after a four-year stint. Any bets on whether he will be back a third time?

Renault-Nissan Chennai plant gets new chief

Mumbai, April 20: Renault-Nissan Automotive India (RNAIPL) announced on Wednesday the appointment of Mr Kou Kimura as the new CEO & Managing Director of its manufacturing facility at Oragadam, near Chennai. With effect from April 1, Mr Kimura will replace Mr Akira Sakurai as the head of the plant. Mr Kimura has been promoted from his previous position of SVP – Plant Operations of the Oragadam facility, which he held since 2008.

Mr Kimura is a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Touhoku University, Japan. He started his career in Nissan's Oppama Plant in Japan in 1977. Prior coming to India, Mr Kimura has held various positions in Nissan headquarters in Japan and in the UK. Mr Marc Nassif, MD & Country General Manager for Renault in India, continues in his role as Deputy CEO of RNAIPL.