F&I Management & Training

Paul Willcox has been appointed Managing Director of Volkswagen Group (UK) Limited, taking over from Simon Thomas who leaves the UK on 1 September 2013 to take up a global marketing role.

Milton Keynes, 1 August 2013: Willcox, 49, joins the business on 16 September from Nissan, where he has held the role of Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Europe since June 2011.  He has worked in the motor industry for a number of years, having started his career, following graduation with a degree in Management Sciences, at Peugeot GB.

He joined Nissan Motor Company GB in 1992 and has held numerous management positions in sales and marketing, including Manager Corporate Planning, General Manager Marketing Strategy and Pricing, and Marketing Director Nissan GB.  He was appointed Vice President Marketing for Nissan Europe in 2005 before returning to Nissan Motors Great Britain as Managing Director in 2008.

Willcox will be based at Volkswagen Group UK's headquarters in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, from where he will be responsible for the Group's five UK brands - Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles, Audi, SEAT and ŠKODA - and their associated functions.

Simon Thomas, who has been with the Volkswagen Group since September 2011, will take up the role of Global Head of Marketing for the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand at the company's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, reporting to the Board Member for Sales and Marketing for the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, Christian Klingler.  Thomas succeeds Jürgen Stackmann, who became Chairman of SEAT S.A. on 1 May 2013.

DATED: 02.08.13

FEED: HA