Now here's an interesting turn of events in the luxury car world: Former Infiniti->ke36 chief Johan de Nysschen has been named global president of Cadillac->ke18. The man credited with building Audi->ke14 into a powerhouse will take over as president of GM's->ke2320 luxury division on August 1st. De Nysschen's appointment comes as Bob Ferguson, who had led Cadillac since 2012, will return to Washington as senior vice president of global public policy to help improve GM’s image in the wake of the company’s much-discussed ignition switch recalls.

The 54-year-old de Nysschen joins a brand that has enjoyed tremendous success last year. Cadillac sales rose nearly 22 percent in 2013, while the ATS was the North American Car of the Year and the CTS->ke1200 was named MotorTrend car of the year. In 2014, however, Cadillac sales fell 2 percent through June, as GM struggled to build on last year's momentum with brand-new vehicles, such as the ATS Coupe and the Escalade full-size SUV->ke145.

In spite of its recent success and the fact that it enjoys the strongest product lineup in decades, Cadillac still lags behind its German rivals as far as sales go. And this is exactly where Johan de Nysschen and its 21 years of experience with Audi and Infiniti will come in handy.

Click past the jump to read more about Johan de Nysschen.

Johan de Nysschen

The South Africa-born executive began his career with Audi in his native country in 1993. De Nysschen quickly made it up the ladder serving as president of Audi Japan for five years and chief executive of Audi U.S.A. for eight years. During his tenure, Audi sales in the U.S. increased a whopping 42 percent and the German automaker became a legitimate competitor to the likes of BMW->ke178 and Mercedes->ke187-Benz.

At Infiniti, de Nysschen devised a plan meant to reinvent the Japanese luxury brand. The South African is responsible for the company's new naming structure, its involvement in Formula One->ke662 racing alongside Red Bull Racing and for moving Infiniti headquarters to Hong Kong. Under de Nysschen, Infiniti took off to raise awareness of its presence in the market in both Europe and Asia and establish itself as a global luxury brand.

Also, Infiniti experienced record sales in the first six months of 2014, with 101,000 vehicles delivered - up 30 percent compared to same period last year. What's more, de Nysschen backed Infiniti's most daring project to date, the Q50 Eau Rouge. The Nissan GT-R-powered sedan, now just a concept car, will become the most powerful and luxurious Infiniti-badged sedan yet and fight against big guns like the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

Why It Matters

The days when Cadillac used to dominate the American luxury market are long gone. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have stepped in to take over as the mainstays of the luxury battlefield as GM struggles to launch matching products in every segment. With de Nysschen -- a smart and ambitious man -- in charge, Cadillac might actually have a shot at closing the gap on its German rivals. We won't go as far as to say Cadillac will catch up with BMW or Mercedes, because that won't happen too soon, but de Nysschen will make sure to point the brand in the right direction.

On the other hand, we can't help but think what will happen to Infiniti with Johan out of the picture. Sure, de Nysschen is a professional and he will make sure his plan is being carried out, but will the next Infiniti CEO be able to fill in the blanks? The brand's future is pretty much covered for the next say two years, but de Nysschen's successor will be facing a difficult task after that. Fingers crossed Johan's legacy doesn't fade away, as Infiniti is headed in the right direction, growing slowly but surely.