Xavier Chardon to head Marketing at Volkswagen Passenger Cars

Xavier Chardon (42) has been appointed the new Head of Marketing at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. He succeeds Simon Thomas (54), who will leave the company. Dr. Wolf-Stefan Specht (45) takes over from Chardon as Head of Sales Europe at Volkswagen Passenger Cars. Both managers will report direct to Christian Klingler, Board Member for Sales and Marketing for the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, who will also take charge of Volkswagen Group Marketing for an interim period. These changes are effective September 1.

Xavier Chardon holds an MBA degree and started his career with Citroën Italy in 1994. He subsequently held various senior management posts in sales and marketing in locations such as France, Denmark and Germany. He became Head of Marketing and PR at Citroën in France in 2007, and was appointed General Manager in France in 2009. He moved to the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand as Head of Sales Europe in 2011.

Dr. Wolf-Stefan Specht holds a degree in mechanical engineering and joined the Volkswagen Group in 2001. He has held various senior management posts since 2004, becoming Head of Sales Northern Europe in 2008, and Head of Sales Central Europe at Volkswagen Passenger Cars in 2010. He was appointed Head of Sales India / Far East in March 2013.