French, who has been with the Volkswagen Group for 15 years, returns to the UK after three years in China with Volkswagen Passenger Cars as regional sales and marketing strategy manager and will start his new role this month.

He previously worked in the Skoda planning team for over three years (2005 – 2008) and will replace Martin Barrow-Starkey, who leaves the brand to take up the role of head of retailer learning services at Volkswagen Group UK.

“It is a pleasure to welcome John back on board,” commented Alasdair Stewart, brand director, Skoda UK. I believe John’s wealth of experience will help us move the brand forward."

French commented, “It’s an exciting time to be joining Skoda. With a refreshed model line-up, including a new Fabia and a new Superb introduced this year, the brand has gone from strength to strength. We passed a million sales globally last year and in the UK we have clear ambitions to continue our growth. I look forward to working with the wider Skoda team and a fantastic retailer network in order to realise these ambitions.”