Saab Automobile Appoints New Executive Sales Director

TROLLHÄTTAN, SWEDEN – October 28, 2010: Saab Automobile today announced the appointment of Matthias Seidl as Executive Director Sales, effective from January 1. Seidl joins Saab’s senior management team from Detroit-based automotive consultancy API, where he was President and CEO. Prior to that, Seidl spent 20 years in the Volkswagen Group where he held several senior executive positions in the sales organizations of Audi and Volkswagen.

At Volkswagen, Seidl was COO for the brand in the United States. During his 12 years at Audi, he was a senior sales and marketing executive in the European and Asia-Pacific region prior to running the brand’s North and South American sales region. Seidl will be based at Saab’s headquarters in Trollhättan, Sweden, where he will report directly to Saab Automobile President and CEO, Jan Åke Jonsson.

“I feel extremely honoured to be joining such an iconic brand as Saab,” said Seidl, 47. “This is a very exciting period for the company and I look forward to helping increase sales volumes and opening up new territories for the brand in markets around the globe.”

Announcing the appointment, Jan Åke Jonsson said: “I am very pleased to welcome Matthias to our senior management team. His experience and skills will be very important to Saab as we continue to establish ourselves as a successful independent company.

“Over the next twelve months we will be launching two new products - the 9-4X and the 9-5 SportCombi – and Matthias’s contribution will be vital in optimizing the sales of these exciting new vehicles.”

As reported earlier, current Executive Director Sales Adrian Hallmark will be leaving Saab for a position within Jaguar. “We wish Adrian all the best and thank him for his contributions during his time with Saab”, said Jonsson.