Personnel moves at Opel-Vauxhall, CAP automotive, Kia Motors (UK), Renault UK, Lex Autolease and Infiniti
Opel-Vauxhall
Karl-Thomas Neumann will become chairman of the Adam Opel AG management board, president of GM Europe and vice-president of General Motors (GM) from 1 March.
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As well as overseeing Opel in Europe, including Vauxhall in the UK, Neumann will also become part of the GM executive committee.
Dan Akerson, chairman and chief executive of GM, said: "Opel/Vauxhall is a key to General Motors’ global success. This move will ensure that we have the best possible leadership in place as we continue driving toward profitability and growth in Europe."
Neumann joins from his role as chief executive at Volkswagen, where he was also vice-president of the brand’s group in China.
Meanwhile, Duncan Aldred, head of Vauxhall in the UK, has taken on the acting role of vice -president, sales, marketing and aftersales at Opel / Vauxhall.
Aldred will perform both roles following the resignation of Alfred E Rieck as member of the Opel board for sales, marketing and aftersales.
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By GlobalDataOpel-Vauxhall are currently operating a Europe-wide business recovery plan including strategies for sales and branding, at the same time as fulfilling parent GM Europe’s aim to cut costs and launch new products.
Aldred has been chairman and managing director of Vauxhall Motors, the second-biggest selling brand in the UK and the equivalent of Opel on the continent, since January 2010 and recently spoke of the desire to boost retail sales in the UK, rather than chase fleet registrations to compete with Ford, the biggest-seller.
CAP Automotive
CAP Automotive has brought in Dylan Setterfield, formerly of GE Capital Fleet Services, as senior editor for future residual values. The appointment follows that of Adrian Rushmore as operations director.
Setterfield has spent the past 13 years monitoring residual values at GE, including his last role as senior European analyst, overseeing both value forecasts across all continental markets and the processes by which the company could deliver consistent residual value expectations.
CAP said in a company statement the appointments made since its acquisition by Montagu Private Equity were part of an expansion of, and investment in, market intelligence by the vehicle valuation firm.
As well as the appointments of Rushmore and Setterfield, since the acquisition the company has seen Derren Martin made head of the Black Book Live team and Martin McCourt and Matt Thompson join the CAP board.
Kia motors (UK)
Kia Motors (UK) has shuffled its senior management team in an effort to capitalise on its recent growth in UK retail.
Following the move of Michael Cole, the brand’s UK managing director, to Kia Motors Europe, Yaser Shabsogh, currently sales director at the brand, has become commercial director while Simon Hetherington, currently dealer development director, has become business development director responsible for qualitative growth.
Shabsogh, who joined the brand from Ford in 2007, will take responsibility for sales, aftersales, marketing, fleet and supply chain activity. Hetherington, who joined from Toyota, also in 2007, will manage long-term strategy, business processes, network capacity and customer experience.
Renault UK
Renault UK has appointed Ken Ramirez as managing director following the departure of Thierry Sybord, who has moved to an undisclosed role for the brand in Europe.
Ramirez joins from Nissan, partner in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, where he was managing director of the brand in Latin America and the Caribbean, responsible for 37 markets. Ramirez’s background also includes the North American and Japanese markets and roles managing research and development, corporate planning, marketing and sales.
Ramirez said he was looking forward to joining the French marque as it prepares to launch six models in the next six months, including the Sandero and Duster from Romanian subsidiary brand Dacia and the next Renault Clio.
Lex Autolease
Fleet leasing and management firm Lex Autolease has promoted Mark Chessman to corporate sales director. Chessman will head Lex’s 270-strong UK team which manages a fleet of 270,000 vehicles.
Chessman joined Lex, then known as Lloyds TSB Autolease, in 2002 as finance director, becoming deputy managing director, then commercial director at the firm.
Infiniti
Infiniti, the luxury division of Japanese carmaker Nissan, preparing for the launch of its Q50 saloon model, has appointed Hannah Bishop as fleet manager for its north European region.
Bishop, who joins the company from Peugeot where she was national fleet key account manager, will be responsible for building Infiniti’s fleet business in the Netherlands and the UK, and will report to regional director Tony Lewis.
She said: "It is great to be starting with Infiniti when it is still such a relatively young company in Europe. You don’t often get these opportunities in your career to make an impact within the industry and as the premium brand starts to build its corporate profile
"I will be aiming to enhance and grow its position within the fleet industry."
