SAN FRANCISCO -

Salesforce.com has announced the addition of its new chief automotive officer, appointing a longtime leader from Nissan and Renault.

Joining salesforce.com as executive vice president and chief automotive officer is Patrick Pelata, who will be responsible for leading the company’s strategy for delivering social and mobile cloud technologies to the automotive industry.

Pelata has 28 years of leadership experience in the global auto industry, having served in multiple roles in driving product and management innovation in the global automotive industry, both at Nissan in Japan, and at Renault in France, salesforce.com reported.

He served as chief operating officer of Renault and most recently led a Renault-Nissan “connected cars” initiative.

Pelata was one of three executives sent by Renault to help revive Nissan when the Renault-Nissan Alliance was formed in 1999.

According to his biography, as executive vice president of product, design and strategy Pelata worked closely with the American and Asian markets, serving among the architects of the revival of the Nissan and Infiniti products and brands. He also led the European region at Nissan.

An engineering graduate from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts in Paris who holds a Ph.D. in socioeconomics, Pelata drove the Renault expansion for emerging markets as well as the electric vehicle product strategy, salesforce.com said.

Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, said, “The social revolution has created an incredible opportunity for the automotive industry to build even tighter connections with their customers through next-generation connected cars. The future of the automotive industry is social, and I can’t think of a better executive than Patrick to lead salesforce.com’s automotive strategy.”

“I am excited to join what Forbes has acknowledged to be the world’s most innovative company,” said Pelata. “Salesforce.com has a tremendous opportunity to be a strategic partner with the automotive industry as it transforms how it connects with employees, customers, partners – and even with its own cars! It’s an exciting time to be here.”