Volkswagen Group Australia will have a refreshed senior leadership team from January 1, 2022 following the departure of current managing director Michael Bartsch who is returning to Volkswagen of America.
The current Audi Australia managing director Paul Sansom will become the new Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) managing director on January 1.
Sansom was appointed to the Audi Australia position in 2017 following a previous three-year stint leading the Audi South Africa national sales company.
In addition to directing Volkswagen passenger cars, Volkswagen commercial vehicles, Skoda, and Cupra, Sansom will also oversee the Audi brand which is now being enveloped under the VGA umbrella from January 1.
A new brand director is being sought for Audi Australia currently, but Sansom will hold the reins of the portfolio in the interim.
Effective December 1, Michal Szaniecki is appointed Volkswagen passenger vehicles brand director.
Szaniecki comes to Volkswagen Group Australia from his native Poland where he has been Director of Seat and Cupra, before which he was Volkswagen’s Senior Marketing Manager in that country. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 2016, prior to which he worked with such global brands as Nivea and Kraft.
Ryan Davies remains the Volkswagen commercial vehicles brand director, Michael Irmer remains the Skoda brand director and Ben Wilks remains the Cupra brand director.
Bartsch has led VGA since 2015, overseeing Volkswagen passenger vehicles, Volkswagen commercial vehicles, Skoda and the introduction of the Barcelona-based Cupra brand.
Volkswagen AG head of group importer steering Dr Wolf-Stefan Specht says Bartsch has been a tremendous asset to VGA for the past six years.
Specht says Bartsch and his team have helped to establish Volkswagen Group Australia as the largest European automotive importer in the country, steering the company to arrive in the strong position it is in today.
He also says Sansom will lead the larger Volkswagen Group Australia with all the experience and deep insight gained in his almost 20 years with the Volkswagen Group.
Bartsch, whose previous roles include that of Executive Vice President and COO of Porsche Cars North America and Vice President, Infiniti Americas, has paid tribute to the Volkswagen Group Australia team.
“It has been a privilege to lead such an extraordinary team over the past six years,” Bartsch says. “We have experienced our share of challenges and headwinds during that time, but we have never lost sight of the trust that our customers place in our brands.
“Our collective growth over that period is a mark of the significant progress our brands have made in Australia, and I am pleased to leave the next leg of their successful journey in Paul’s very capable hands,” he says.
Sansom thanked Bartsch and welcomed the challenge of leading the new Volkswagen Group Australia from 2022.
“Next year may prove to be the most important year in the history of Volkswagen Group Australia, and it is testament to Michael’s leadership that the company should be so well-positioned to play a leading role in shaping the future of mobility in this country,” Sansom says.
“The now five brands of Volkswagen Group Australia all have their own unique identity, and cater for their own distinct customer groups. The diversity of their expertise across the majority of market segments provides Volkswagen Group Australia with an unrivalled opportunity to appeal to more new and existing customers than any other competitor,” Sansom says.
Combined, the Volkswagen Group Australia national sales company will have more than 180 dealers nationwide.
Sansom’s automotive career commenced in 2001 as Jaguar’s National Sales Manager in the UK. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 2003, first as a Regional Brand Manager for Volkswagen, then VW’s Product and Planning Manager.
In 2006, he moved across to Audi where he held the role of After Sales and Customer Service Director, before becoming the Sales Director. Audi became the UK’s best-selling premium brand in that period.
