11.03.09: Motoring musical chairs!
March 11th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
Intriguing press release from Mazda hit the Car Dealer Magazine inbox today, revealing that it has a new president – Jeffrey H. Guyton.
He has replaced previous incumbent James Muir, who joined the firm in 2005.
Interesting, and all rather sudden, we thought, here in the Car Dealer Magazine office. What’s going on?
Then, news filtered through that SEAT’s chief Erich Schmitt had quit, apparently to move elsewhere within the VW Group. What? He’d only been there since autumn 2006, after all.
A little later, it was cleared up. James Muir is off to SEAT! Schmitt will hand over later this year! Leaving Guyton with the Mazda Europe reigns, and Schmitt to fill an as-yet unspecified VW post.
Confused? Well, we were, but are a little less so now. Just goes to show, though, how quickly things move in this industry.
It means one thing, though. There’s a Brit heading up SEAT’s worldwide operations – which can only be a positive thing for UK car dealers, particularly given the strength of the brand’s operations over here…
RICHARD.