The changes see Bernhard Kaplan become managing director at Mazda Germany. Joining the company in 2000, Kaplan was most recently Mazda Germany’s sales director.

Mr Kaplan replaces Josef Schmid, who now retires. Schmid joined Mazda in 1973 and led the German organisation from 2009 onwards.

Mazda has also appointed Heimo Egger as the new managing director within Austria. Previously director of Mazda’s South Eastern European (MSEE) markets, he comes to Mazda Austria after successfully developing the MSEE region.

Mr Egger succeeds Günther Kerle, who is retiring after 35 years at Mazda and is credited with having helped build the brand’s strong position in the Austrian market.

In addition, David McGonigle, recently director of Sales and Aftersales Operations at Mazda Motor Europe, replaces Mr Egger as regional director of the newly renamed Mazda Central and South East Europe (MCSEE) region. McGonigle will be responsible for 17 national markets including Poland, which adds a sales volume of almost 10,000 units. Together, these markets accounted for sales of 22,000 vehicles in 2015, up almost one-quarter over the previous year.

Finally, Mazda Europe is combining responsibility for sales and customer service under vice president sales Martijn ten Brink. Until now, customer service fell under the stewardship of vice president customer service and logistics Jorgen Olesen, who retires today.