Mr Thomas, who has been with the Volkswagen Group since September 2011, will take up the role of global head of marketing for the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand at the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. He succeeds Jürgen Stackmann, who became chairman of SEAT SA on 1st May 2013.

His role of managing director of Volkswagen Group (UK) Limited will be filled by Paul Willcox, who joins the business from Nissan, where he has held the role of senior vice president, sales and marketing for Europe since June 2011. He has worked in the motor industry for a number of years, having started his career at Peugeot GB.

He joined Nissan Motor Company GB in 1992 and has held numerous management positions in sales and marketing. He was appointed vice president marketing for Nissan Europe in 2005 before returning to Nissan Motors Great Britain as managing director in 2008.

Mr Willcox will be based at Volkswagen Group UK’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, from where he will be responsible for the group’s five UK brands – Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles, Audi, SEAT and ŠKODA – and their associated functions.