Saab Restructures Sales Divisions

Getting ready for perhaps the most important year in its history, Swedish manufacturer Saab is trying its best, under the new Spyker management, to get its things in order for the great moments to come.

After a week ago Saab announced it was ready to manufacture its own cars by setting up its new engineering structure, news of the car maker doing the same with its sales organization hit the web.

Starting today, February 1, Saab will sell its cars globally through four divisions, each with its own sales director and personnel: Americas (led by Alan Ludwell), Nordic (led by Magnus Hansson), Europe (led by Jonathan Nash) and Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (the executive for this region is yet to be announced).

“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,” said Matthias Seidl, Saab director for Global Sales & Aftersales.

“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.”

The main focus of the new sales structure is to bring back a brand that has slowly drifted to the outskirts of the automotive scene under GM rule. The models with which Saab plans a comeback are already here, with more to come in 2011.

The first model to be presented this year by Saab is the 9-5 SportCombi, which will be introduced during the 2010 Geneva Auto Show in March.