Volkswagen Group Ireland has a new Managing Director and CEO. Following the departure of Carla Wentzel, who has moved on to become the CEO of Volkswagen Poland (and in the process becoming the first woman to be CEO of an automotive group in that country), Pierre Boutin has arrived in Ireland to be the Group’s new head here.
Boutin was in the past CEO and Managing Director of the Volkswagen Group in Canada and, prior to that, held senior control positions at Volkswagen Russia and Volkswagen France. According to Volkswagen, in his role in Canada, Boutin: “presided over an era of unprecedented success, driving significant innovations across the company and securing the largest investment in the company’s electric vehicle supply chain. “History of Canada. “
In fact, under Boutin’s leadership, Volkswagen achieved a consistent market record with a percentage in Canada in 2023, and he is part of the team that secured a large investment that will allow the construction of Volkswagen’s first North American battery “Gigafactory” in Canada, in the city of St. Petersburg. Thomas. , Ontario. -Based on a site the length of 850 football fields, St. Thomas, Ontario and St. Thomas. John’s Thomas Gigafactory will have a potential production volume of up to 90 gigawatt hours, enough to produce around 1 million electric cars per year. Volkswagen and the Canadian government have pledged to invest more than €13 billion in the deal. Construction is expected to begin this year and production is expected to begin in 2027.
Commenting on his appointment, Boutin said: “I am very happy to be joining Volkswagen Group Ireland at such an exciting time in automotive history. The Volkswagen Group is only the leading car manufacturer in Ireland, and it is also at the forefront of a transformation: “We are moving towards electric mobility. I would like to thank Carla for her leadership of the Volkswagen Group Ireland over the past five years. His inspirational leadership guided the company through one of the most challenging times the industry has ever experienced. and made the Volkswagen Group Ireland a pioneer in the field of electric mobility. E-mobility, digitalisation and sustainability.
On his departure, Wentzel said: “After spending five glorious years here, Ireland will always have a special place in my heart. I’m sure Pierre will have an equally positive experience. Working alongside our talented and most productive team in With a network of world-class brokers, Volkswagen Group Ireland is well positioned to open a new bankruptcy for the automotive industry while offering its consumers the most productive experience imaginable. “
Through its logos (Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, Cupra, SEAT and Skoda), the Volkswagen Group Ireland has one hundred stores and represents more than 27 percent of total new vehicle registrations in Ireland in 2023. Figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) reveals that total registrations increased by more than 12 per cent at Volkswagen, 67 per cent at Seat and 150 per cent at Cupra. Audi maintained its position as the number one premium logo in Ireland, with registrations up 21 per cent. Meanwhile, Skoda had a record year, surpassing 10,000 registrations for the first time in the company’s Irish history, while sales increased by up to 33 per cent.
In addition, with the ID. 4, Volkswagen also recently owns the best-selling electric car in the country, ahead of the global sales colossus that is the Tesla Model Y. In fact, the ID. 4 recently surpassed the Nissan Leaf as the best-selling electric car in Ireland of all time. This year will see the arrival of key all-electric models such as the Volkswagen ID. 7 sedan, the Cupra Tavascan, and the Audi Q6 e-tron and A6 e-tron.