Mr Stackmann began his career at Ford in 1989 where he held various posts in Germany and the UK, including marketing director for German plants, vice president marketing at Ford Europe in London and finally general manager sales and marketing for German plants.

He joined the VW Group in 2010, initially holding responsibility for sales and marketing at Skoda, and was placed in charge of marketing at the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in September 2012.

Mr Muir, who has been chairman of SEAT since September 2009, will assume a senior management function within the Volkswagen Group and will report direct to the Board of Management.