Thursday, October 20, 2005

"More Autonomy" for Volkswagen Canada

Text from CNW Group.
AJAX, ON, Oct. 19 /CNW/ - Volkswagen Canada announced that it will
implement a new organizational structure, effective January 1st 2006, in order to capitalize on growth opportunities in the Canadian automotive market.

At that time, John White, Vice President Operations, will become Executive Vice President of the company. White will report to Frank Witter, who continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Canada Inc. and of its sister company Volkswagen of America, Inc. Volkswagen Canada will also have stronger communication links with its parent corporation, Volkswagen AG in Germany, ensuring that the product and strategic needs of the Canadian market are fully represented at a consistently high level. The structure dedicated to Canada includes: A new Product Marketing department, together with an Advertising and Communications team, will develop and implement marketing strategies tailored to Canada. They will work with the two advertising agencies that will manage the Canadian account, Crispin-Porter + Bogusky and Palm Publicite. Public Relations will continue to integrate communications with the English and French language press.

The new Canadian Product Planning Team will ensure that products are equipped, priced and positioned to reflect the different market segments in this country.

The Sales Division will be in charge of field staff as well as Certified Pre Owned/Fleet, Dealer Development, Distribution, Incentive Planning and Sales Training programmes.

The After Sales and Quality Department will be responsible for Canadian Customer Relations, Warranty, Technical Training, Parts Sales and Marketing.

In announcing the new structure, White said, "We are very excited about the changes which will give the Canadian Volkswagen organization more autonomy and allow us to focus directly on serving our dealers and customers"