Audi taps VW brand's N.A. sales chief to steer China unit

Werner Eichhorn, the Volkswagen brand's sales chief for North America, has been appointed Audi's China president, effective April 1, the automaker said in a statement.

Eichhorn will take over from Gaby-Luise Wuest, who is being assigned to a management position at the VW brand, Audi said.

Eichhorn, 57, joined VW Group in 1982. He has held various management positions at the VW, Skoda and Audi brands.

Before becoming VW brand's sales chief in North America in 2017, he was a management board member for sales and marketing at Skoda.

China is Audi's top sales market with 690,083 vehicles delivered to Chinese customers last year, up 4 percent on 2018. The brand's global sales rose 1 percent to 1.85 million.

From 2005 to 2008, he was managing director in charge of Audi sales at FAW-Volkswagen Automotive, VW Group's joint venture with China FAW Group that builds and markets for the VW and Audi brands.

China has long been Audi's largest single market. In 2019, the brand's China sales topped 690,000, an increase of 4.1 percent, and representing 37 percent of Audi's global deliveries.