Tele Atlas Appoints Managing Director Japan

Tele Atlas (The Netherlands) has appointed Shinya Banno as managing director of Tele Atlas Japan. In this role, Banno will be responsible for all business operations in Japan, including sales, customer support and marketing. He reports to Asia Pacific chief operating officer Mark Steele.

"Tele Atlas has made significant investments to expand its map coverage and operations in the Asia Pacific region this year, and looked to secure a leader with unparalleled navigation industry experience in our core market, Japan," said Steele. "Banno's successful track record in the navigation and automotive markets in both North America and Japan made him the best candidate to ensure our Japanese customers' successful expansion across North American and European markets."

Most recently, Banno served as vice president of sales and marketing for Japan for automotive systems and facility management and control giant Johnson Controls Inc. In this role, Banno was a member of the XLP/Extreme Learning Process, an exclusive development program for senior management. Before that, he was General Manager of Global General Motors (GM) Sales at automotive parts leader Denso.
While with Denso, Banno was based at the company's Denso International America operation in Michigan and was instrumental in securing the navigation systems contract with GM.

Banno holds a bachelor of business degree from Doshisha University in Japan. He is based at Tele Atlas' Japanese headquarters in central Tokyo.