11:04 am, October 28, 2010
SAAB has announced the appointment of Matthias Seidl as their new executive director sales.
Seidl was most recently president and CEO of Detroit-based automotive consultancy API, and prior to this had spent 20 years in the Volkswagen Group both in Audi and VW itself.
He was COO for Volkswagen in the USA, and held executive roles within Audi for 12 years most notably running their North and South American sales region.
Seidl, 47, said: ‘I feel extremely honoured to be joining such an iconic brand as Saab.
‘This is a very exciting period for the company and I look forward to helping increase sales volumes and opening up new territories for the brand in markets around the globe.’
Saab’s automotive president and CEO Jan Åke Jonsson, said: ‘I am very pleased to welcome Matthias to our senior management team. His experience and skills will be very important to Saab as we continue to establish ourselves as a successful independent company.
‘Over the next twelve months we will be launching two new products – the 9-4X and the 9-5 SportCombi – and Matthias’s contribution will be vital in optimizing the sales of these exciting new vehicles.’
Seidl will be based Saab’s headquarters in Trollhättan, Sweden, and he will begin on January 1.
