Since taking the lead position in the United States at the end of 2015, Zellmer has led Porsche to a roughly 20% increase in sales.
ATLANTA – The American head of Porsche would get a primary promotion.
Klaus Zellmer, 53, CEO of Porsche Cars North America, will be promoted to the position of sales manager for parent company Volkswagen Group, according to German director Magazin.
A Porsche Cars North America spokesman declined to make statements on Thursday.
Since taking over leadership in the United States in late 2015, Zellmer has led Porsche to a 20% increase in sales. The sports car manufacturer sold a record 61,568 cars in its current market last year.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, has slowed this dynamic: second quarter sales fell by 20%, and about part of the final sales operations of the brand’s U. S. distributors in the first locks in March.
Zellmer oversaw several product presentations, the current generation Porsche 911 and the brand’s first all-electric model, the Taycan, and is also the architect of the Porsche vehicle subscription program.
Dave Zoloto, general manager of Porsche North Scottsdale in Arizona, described Zellmer as an “accelerated guy” and an advocate for U. S. dealers.
“All distributors in the country have done much more than before their arrival,” Zoloto said. “He won more concessions from Germany than we would have seen. “
In his possible new role as VW’s sales manager, Zellmer will face the ramifications of the pandemic.
In the first part of the year, the VW Group recorded an after-tax loss of around one billion euros ($1. 2 billion), with profits falling 23% to 96 billion euros. Total vehicle deliveries fell by 27% to 3. 9 million vehicles.
Porsche’s position as CEO in the United States is considered a race springboard for VW executives.
Zellmer’s predecessor, Detlev von Platen, is now on sale for the Porsche Group.
Meanwhile, Peter Schwarzenbauer moved from Porsche’s Atlanta U. S. headquarters to Audi in 2008, where he was guilty of sales and then held positions on the board of directors of rival BMW before retiring from the company last October.
Zellmer’s current role emerged from a crisis and settled for the highest position in the United States after the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal prompted a major shakeup of controls at the Volkswagen Group in the fall of 2015.
Prior to that, Zellmer proved to be an effective operator, doubling Porsche’s sales to the head of Germany.
Christiaan Hetzner and Douglas A. Bolduc contributed to this report.
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