VW poaches Ford marketer

Volkswagen has filled its UK marketing chief vacancy by poaching Andrew Coombe from Ford of Europe.

Coombe, marketing director of Ford in Switzerland, is to replace Chris Craft, who is moving to become director of group service (MW February 22). Coombe will leave his post at Ford at the start of next month.

A spokeswoman for VW confirmed that Coombe, who is British, is joining as head of marketing, but is unable to give any other details, including his start date.

As head of marketing, Coombe will be responsible for the car company’s advertising spend of £35m, and will report to VW’s director Paul Willis.

However, the day-to-day advertising and the company’s relationship with its agencies, BMP DDB and Mediacom, is still overseen by communications manager Alan Doyle, who joined the company in October from Yellow Pages.

Last week VW confirmed that it was conducting a strategic review aimed at reviving its share price and preserving its status as Europe’s largest independent car manufacturer.

According to recent reports in Germany, the automotive group has been at the centre of growing speculation over whether it was preparing for a possible defensive alliance with Ford.