Leadership change
Marco Schubert becomes VW's new North America chief
Volkswagen has appointed Marco Schubert to the extended Group management for the difficult business in North America. The current Audi board member for sales succeeds Kjell Gruner. At the same time, the Group is reorganising several important sales positions.
Effective October 1st 2026, Marco Schubert will become a member of the extended Group management for the North America region. In his new role, he will assume overarching management of the business in the region and report directly to Group CEO Oliver Blume. Schubert succeeds Kjell Gruner, who is leaving the company to pursue new professional opportunities.
Currently, Schubert is responsible on the Audi Board of Management for Sales, Marketing and After Sales. In future, he is to consolidate and further develop the Group's activities in one of its strategically most important markets. VW boss Blume said: “I am pleased that, with Marco Schubert, we have gained a very experienced international sales expert for the extended Group management for the North America region.” The CEO also referred to Schubert's experience in cross-brand sales management within the Group.
North America is to become a growth market
With this personnel decision, Volkswagen underlines the importance of North America. Blume described the region as the “most important growth market for the Volkswagen Group”. Schubert is to drive forward the strategic and structural further development of the business there.
The North American market has recently become a major problem for the Wolfsburg-based company. The rigid tariff policy of the Trump administration threatened VW's business model of producing vehicles cost-effectively in Mexico and then exporting them to the USA. The tariffs cause costs amounting to billions and thus threaten the profitability of VW's export strategy. Last year, sales in the USA fell by 13%, and market share was only 4% - the actual target is 10%.
Wider reshuffle of sales leadership
With Schubert's move, Volkswagen is triggering a series of further personnel reshuffles. Martin Sander will take over the position of Audi board member for sales and will also become a member of the extended Group management. He succeeds Schubert and is moving from Volkswagen Passenger Cars, where he has so far been responsible for sales, marketing and after sales.
His previous post at Volkswagen Passenger Cars will be taken over by Martin Jahn, currently Board Member for Sales at Skoda. His successor at the Czech brand will be Martina Biene. The previous head of Volkswagen Group Africa is handing over her function to Christiane Zorn, who will in future lead the Group's activities on the African continent.
Schubert has been working for the Volkswagen Group for more than 25 years. Stages of his career included, among others, Audi in Northern Europe, Skoda with responsibility for Asia and overseas markets, as well as the Audi Sales Company in China. Later, at Porsche, he was responsible for the European business. Since September 2024, he has been a member of the extended Group management as Audi Board Member for Sales.
