Volkswagen's car venture with First Automotive Works Corp (FAW) has appointed a new marketing and sales chief as part a management reshuffle aimed at regaining market share.

Weiming Soh, executive vice-president of Volkswagen China Group, will succeed Li Wu, the out-going vice-president of the venture, on January 1 next year, said a statement from FAW yesterday.

This is the first time FAW VW, the third biggest Sino-foreign car venture by sales, has recruited a Volkswagen executive to take the helm of its marketing and sales activities, an official from FAW said.

The statement also said An Tiecheng, an official from FAW, would replace Qin Huanming as the new president of FAW VW, based in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Soh joined Volkswagen China Group in March this year. Previously, the 39-year-old Singaporean was vice-president of DaimlerChrysler (China) Investment Co Ltd and marketing and sales director of the German-US automaker's venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Corp.

Analysts said the appointment of Soh signaled Volkswagen's increasing control of marketing and sales activities at its ventures in China, a move intended to boost its sliding sales in the world's No.3 car market.

The German group also runs a car venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC).

"Volkswagen wants to gain a stronger say in FAW VW's marketing and sales activities and improve the venture's networks," said Jia Xinguang from China Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corp.

The German car maker has lost considerable market share to US and Asian competitors in recent years, partly because it has failed to do well in the marketing and sales sector, Jia said.

Volkswagen now has less than 20 per cent of China's car market, down from 50 per cent in 2001.

General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai with SAIC has vaulted Volkswagen's two ventures to become the top Sino-foreign car venture this year, mainly because of the joint venture's marketing and sales prowess.

The GM venture sold 259,600 vehicles in the first 11 months of this year, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Sales of FAW VW stood at 204,200 cars during that period, making the joint venture the No. 3 car maker, down one place from last year.

Volkswagen's venture with SAIC, or SVW, sold 214,500 cars during that period. It ranks as China's No. 2 car maker, down from No. 1 in 2004.

FAW VW now produces the Volkswagen Jetta, Bora and Golf brands, as well as the Audi A6 and A4.

The venture will launch two new Volkswagen models next year as part of the German carmaker's plan to bring 10 to 12 new products to China by 2009.

SVW now makes the Volkswagen Passat, Santana, Polo and Gol. It will introduce Skoda cars, Volkswagen's Czech brand, in 2007.

Soh said in October that products from FAW VW would target "modern elites," while those of SVW would mainly focus on "classical elites." Skoda cars will target "smart buyers" in China.

(China Daily December 14, 2005)