Mr Sansom, who has been with the Volkswagen Group for almost two decades, is currently managing director of Audi Australia and chairman of the Audi Foundation.
At VGA he will succeed Michael Bartsch, who will return to Volkswagen of America.
Mr Bartsch took the reins of VGA in 2015. He also directed Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles and oversaw the operations of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Skoda and the introduction of the new Barcelona-based Cupra brand.
After running Audi South Africa for three years, Mr Sansom commenced the top job at Audi Australia in 2017. He will combine the role of Volkswagen Group Australia managing director role with continued leadership of the Audi brand until a successor has been found.
Mr Sansom’s automotive career began 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.
Paul Sansom
In 2006 he moved across to Audi, where he held the role of aftersales and customer service director, before becoming the sales director.
Audi became the UK’s best-selling premium brand in that period.
In another appointment at VGA, Michal Szaniecki will assume the role of brand director of Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles from December 1.
Mr Szaniecki joined the Volkswagen Group in 2016 and was most recently director of the Seat and Cupra brands in his native Poland. Prior to that he was Volkswagen’s senior marketing manager in Poland having previously worked with global brands such as Nivea and Kraft.
As of January 1, Volkswagen Group Australia’s brand management structure will be:
- Volkswagen Group Australia/Audi Managing Director: Paul Sansom
- Director Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles: Michal Szaniecki
- Director Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: Ryan Davies
- Director Skoda: Michael Irmer
- Director Cupra: Ben Wilks
Referring to Mr Bartsch, Wolf-Stefan Specht, head of group importer steering at Volkswagen AG said in a statement: “Michael has been a tremendous asset to Volkswagen Group Australia over the past six years.
“He and his team have helped to establish VGA as the largest European automotive importer in the country, steering the company to arrive in the strong position it is in today. Paul (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,” said Dr Specht.
Mr Bartsch, whose previous roles include that of executive vice president and COO of Porsche Cars North America and vice president at Infiniti Americas, paid tribute to the Volkswagen Group Australia team.
“We have experienced our share of challenges and headwinds … 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.”
Mr Sansom said in a statement that next year “may prove to be the most important year in the history of Volkswagen Group Australia”.
“The now five brands (in Australia) and 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.”
Combined, the Volkswagen Group Australia national sales company will have more than 180 dealers nationwide.
By John Mellor
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