9:22 am, May 8, 2026
Automotive marketplace has confirmed the appointment of a new chief product officer, just days after confirming plans to kill off the Motors name.
Car Dealer reported last week that Motors is to rebrand solely as Cazoo from May 26 and the firm has wasted no time in ringing the changes.
Ahead of the rebrand, bosses have confirmed that Thomas Orthgiess has taken up the role of chief product officer, leading product rollout strategy.
Among his responsibilities will be overseeing Cazoo’s recently-announced new ChatGPT car search app.
Orthgiess joins the firm from one of France’s biggest automotive marketplaces – La Centrale – where he also served as chief product officer.
In a varied career he also previously served as head of consumer core at mobile.de – Germany’s biggest online vehicle marketplace.
Confirming the appointment, Barry Judge, CEO of Cazoo & Motors, said: ‘Thomas is an outstanding chief product officer who brings invaluable experience from both market-leading and challenger automotive marketplace platforms.
‘Having seen how leadership is built and how challengers take share, he will be applying those learnings to this next phase of Cazoo’s growth.’
Orthgiess himself added: ‘I am delighted to join Cazoo at such a pivotal moment.
‘With a strong brand and a modern platform, the opportunity to establish a true challenger in the UK market is clear and I’m looking forward to helping drive that ambition forward.
‘It is rare to see high consumer awareness, a compelling platform and a market ready for change come together – and that combination creates a unique opportunity to accelerate growth.’
