LONDON -- Nissan Europe's former head of sales and marketing, Paul Willcox, will head Volkswagen Group operations in the UK.
Willcox, 49, succeeds Simon Thomas, who will become head of global marketing for the VW Group and for the company's core VW brand on Sept. 1.
Like Willcox, Thomas, 53, is a former Nissan Europe head of sales and marketing. Thomas left the role to join the VW in 2011.
Willcox will start his new job on Sept. 16. He will be based at VW Group's UK headquarters in Milton Keynes, 90km north of London, and will be responsible for the VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda brands.
The UK, where VW Group has a 20 percent market share, is VW's largest EU market after Germany.
Willcox became a rising star at Nissan after joining the company in 1992 from Peugeot. He was appointed head of Nissan UK in 2008 and was promoted to the European sales and marketing role in 2011.
Guillaume Cartier, Nissan Europe's head of sales operations, will take Willcox's role at Nissan effective Sept. 1.
