Skoda Australia head resigns

SKODA Australia director Matthew Wiesner has resigned from his position, with Volkswagen Group Australia announcing that he has elected to leave the company at the end of the year.

His next move and a replacement are still to be confirmed.

Mr Wiesner has headed VW’s Czech brand since its inception in 2007, moving from general manager of press and PR at Volkswagen Group Australia, a position he was in for two-and-a-half years.

Prior to that he was national business and marketing manager for VW Commercial Vehicles, having previously served as an area manager in the same division. He joined the company in June 2001.

Mr Wiesner has overseen the brand’s considerable growth, from the initial 150 new registrations in 2007 to 3500 last year.

This year, Skoda has climbed further to be 66 per cent ahead of 2011 to the end of September, closing in on last year’s total with more than 3000 units sold year to date.

Helping things along is the new Yeti compact SUV – now the biggest-selling model for the brand – as well as the Fabia light car and the resurrected Roomster people-mover.

Further growth will come next year with the all-new Rapid shown at this month’s Sydney motor show, as well as the forthcoming fully redesigned Octavia mid-sizer and the Citigo city car, the latter based on Volkswagen’s Up.

As GoAuto reported earlier this month, a raft of model upgrades are also expected in the coming months, including at least one new two-wheel-drive variant of the Yeti and significant MY13 overhauls for Fabia and the current Octavia.

Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Anke Koeckler said Mr Wiesner had made a valuable contribution to the company.

“It is not often you get the opportunity to introduce a new brand and its products to a market,” she said.

“Matthew can proudly claim to have delivered the Skoda brand to Australia and delivered a range of products which are not only simply clever but are redefining how customers view Skoda in this country.

“I am grateful for his contribution and want to thank him for his tremendous work. I wish him well in his future endeavours.”