Saab Announces New Global Management Structure; North America Gains Marketing Exec

In the midst of Saab Automobile AB setting up shop in new markets throughout the world and beginning what it called “our biggest-ever product offensive,” the Swedish automaker unveiled a new global sales structure on Tuesday.

Saab said this revamped sales organization is designed to allow for more streamlined communication and foster more efficient decision-making.

A little closer to home, it was also revealed that Saab Cars North America appointed an executive director of marketing for North America. Serving in that post will be David Rooney.

Explaining the new global sales structure — which officially began Tuesday — Saab said it has broken down its global sales organizations into the following regions:

—Americas

—Nordic

—Europe

—Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa

There will be a different regional director to head up each region. The responsibilities of the directors include market development, sales and aftersales in their respective regions.

Starting with the Americas, Alan Ludwell — whose current position is heading up importer markets for Saab — has been named its regional director. The U.S. is included in this region and typically is the biggest market for Saab.

Meanwhile, in the Nordic region, Magnus Hansson is keeping his current leadership post.

Jonathan Nash moves from serving as Saab Great Britain’s managing director and becomes the regional director for Europe.

Saab has yet to appoint an Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regional director but said it will do in the near future. In this particular region, Saab will emphasize mostly on China.

The four regional directors are to work out of Saab’s Trollhattan headquarters. Each of them reports to Matthias Seidl, executive director of global sales and aftersales.

“This new organization gives individual markets a direct link with company headquarters through their regional organizations, creating shorter lines of communication and a more effective decision-making process,” Seidl shared. “Getting this new structure in place is an important step as we focus on realizing the full sales potential of our markets and build on the recent sales momentum.”

Seidl continued: “This year will be extremely important for Saab Automobile AB as we continue our biggest-ever product offensive with the introduction of exciting new vehicles like the Saab 9-4X crossover and the Saab 9-5 SportCombi.

“The new sales structure should help us make the most of the volume opportunities these products will create for us,” Seidl added.

Offering a bit more on the new marketing exec for North America, officials noted the entirety of Rooney’s marketing experience was at Chrysler/DaimlerChrysler.

Rooney served in director-level capacities in various arenas, including customer relationship management, marketing and global communications, brand communications, media operations, events and cross brand marketing. 

Rooney also recently wrote a book called The 31st Second that urged organizations and people to “think like marketers.” In the book, he stresses the importance of client-centered strategies emphasizing brand positioning and integrated communication along with measurable business development, according to officials.

“We are very pleased to have David Rooney join our North American team in a very pivotal year for Saab Cars North America,” Seidl noted.