Volkswagen on Friday said that Ralph Weyler, 50, a former sales executive with rival BMW, will head sales of its Audi brand from October 1, replacing Georg Flandorfer, according to Dow Jones.
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The report said Flandorfer, 57, will take over responsibilities for sales of the entire VW group in Germany and will report directly to chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder.
Dow Jones said the appointment was part of the restructuring of VW’s sales force following the sudden departure of board member and head of sales, Robert Buechelhofer, who left in April following a disagreement over strategy.
Since Buechelhofer’s departure, VW has put more sales responsibility in the hands of its brands, which include Audi, Seat and Skoda, Dow Jones noted.
The news agency said the appointment of Weyler, who headed German sales of BMW and Mini until this week, is somewhat of a coup for VW and noted that VW CEO Pischetsrieder was previously head of BMW.
The report also said that Audi, VW’s premium brand, on Friday said it posted record car sales in the first half of 2003 of 388,000 cars, 1.6% up on a year ago.
