Major changes are happening today in the automotive and mobility industries around the world, changes that are calling for new faces with new ideas in the corporate world.
In Latin America, one of the most significant recent executive changes is the appointment by the Volkswagen Group of Alexander Seitz as Executive Chairman in Latin America, now leading operations in 29 countries as of Saturday (October 1).
To lead the business in Brazil and Argentina as well as throughout South and Central America, Mr. Seitz succeeds Pablo Di Si who became the group’s CEO in North America.
Joined Volkswagen AG in 2005 where he led, among other things, group-wide purchasing for powertrains, Mr. Seitz, who has held senior positions in purchasing, financing and control of Volkswagen , will lead operations from the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Ciro Possobom will continue with the company’s leadership in Brazil as COO.
Brazil
Second-half starting positions for two other Brazil-based automakers are also Marcelo Taveira (right picture) and Jose Ricardo Gomes (picture below).
While Great Wall Motors has appointed Mr. Taveira to lead vehicle financing and subscription in the country, reporting directly to communications director Oswaldo Ramos, Toyota Motor Corporation has appointed Mr. Gomes as chief commercial officer, a veteran of nearly two decades with the company.
Mr. Taveira will be responsible for setting up financing programs to be offered to customers looking for electric vehicles (EVs) as well as the Chinese manufacturers’ car subscription program which is expected to start by the end of the year. 2022. And for Mr. Gomes, he oversees in-country sales and aftersales for the Japanese OEM.
During this time, there have been major changes in the local car rental and vehicle leasing industry in Brazil. While Localiza acquired most of Unidas, the latter’s remaining assets were joined by local competitor Ouro Verde under the Brookfield Asset Management umbrella.
Following this, Localiza appointed Dirley Ricci (pictured right) as Executive Director of Vehicle Procurement, formerly Co-Owner and Head of Asset Management for Unidas.
And more recently, as Ouro Verde announced on Monday (October 3) that it will be renamed Unidas, the new CEO of the new Unidas is now Claudio Zatter (left picture). Mr. Zatter was previously CEO of Ouro Verde and before that, executive director of Localiza.
The largest Brazilian vehicle rental and leasing agencies are now Localiza (500,000 vehicles), Movida (207,000) and Unidas (87,000).
The rest
North of Mexico, leader of the automotive industry carlos zarlenga (pictured right) started a new role in September as chairman of automotive group Stellantis. Mr. Zarlenga held various high-level positions at General Motors for nearly a decade, most recently serving as president and CEO of GM South America from 2019 to 2021.
As direct competitors to General Motors, Stellantis and GM are among the leading brands in Latin America and are both developing their vehicle electrification plans in the region and globally.
Meanwhile, multinational vehicle rental and mobility company ALD Automotive has appointed Mauricio Serna Lozano as CEO in Chile this year, and Ana Milena Serrano as commercial director of the company in Colombia. Helman Beltran took over Ms. Serrano’s previous position as Director of Operations.
Mauricio Serna Lozano and Ana Milena Serrano
To network with leaders from across Latin America, share best practices, and learn from your peers, be sure to attend the next Fleet LatAm Business Networking Group meeting on December 13. More information to come shortly.
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