VW names new sales strategy boss

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group has appointed Gert Schardey to run sales strategy and business development at its core VW brand.

Schardey is currently head of Volkswagen Automobile Hamburg, a VW-owned car retail group.

Schardey will start his new job at VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Feb. 1 and will report to the group's head of sales and marketing, Christian Klingler.

The German national succeeds Stephan Woellenstein, 49, who has moved to China as head of the FAW-VW sales company.

Schardey, 48, began his career in 1989 with Daimler, holding several management positions at the carmaker, before joining the Kittner Group, a German car dealership, in 1999.

Schardey: Moves to Wolfsburg.

Schardey has been head of Volkswagen's Hamburg dealer network since 2007.