VW appoints Hazelwood to head Skoda

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Volkswagen has promoted Robert Hazelwood to run the Skoda marque in the UK following Chris Craft’s move to the main VW brand (MW January 31). Hazelwood, who was previously director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VCV), takes over at Skoda on March 1.

Hazelwood has been with Volkswagen Group UK since 2005, when he joined as head of group synergies. He was appointed director of VCV in June 2006 and during his time in charge the division increased its market share to more than 8% and sold more than 30,000 vehicles for the first time.

Hazelwood, who has also worked at Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen, Nissan and MG Rover, calls Skoda a “great brand with a strong future”.

Craft was promoted to run the VW brand in the UK after Paul Willis moved to Kia Europe as chief operating officer. Last year, Skoda’s sales jumped 3% in the UK to 39,907. The marque has also won plaudits for its advertising, notably the award-winning Fabia “Cake” ad made by Fallon.

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