Luca de Meo Moves to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – MAY 14, 2009: Luca de Meo (41) will take over responsibility for marketing at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand from August 1. As a member of the Group Executive Council of Fiat he was not only responsible for the group’s marketing, but also chaired the Alfa Romeo and Abarth brands. In his new post, De Meo will report to Christian Klingler, member of the board of management of the Volkswagen brand with responsibility for sales, marketing and after sales. Klingler commented: “The appointment of Luca de Meo marks a further valuable step in strengthening our sales team. He has outstanding expertise in controlling brands and models and his experience will contribute significantly to advancing the international orientation of our marketing and our brand.”

Luca de Meo studied marketing in Milan and was in charge of Renault sales regions in Italy from 1992 to 1994. Then he moved to the Renault Group’s headquarters in France, where he was responsible for market analyses and product management. In 1998, he joined Toyota Motor Europe. He was appointed General Manager for product planning in 2000.

Having joined the Fiat Group in 2002, Luca de Meo headed marketing at the Lancia brand. One year later he became Vice President of Lancia. He was appointed chairman of the board of management of Fiat Automobiles Spa in 2004. He became the board member for marketing at the Fiat Group in September 2007 and was also appointed CEO of the Alfa Romeo in December of the same year. In addition, he assumed responsibility for Abarth brand business in March 2007 before leaving the Fiat Group in early 2009.

Jochen Sengpiehl (40), Head of Volkswagen Marketing, leaves the company at his own request. He joined Volkswagen in March 2006 and has since held responsibility for marketing at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. He was instrumental in developing numerous advertising campaigns which have further raised awareness of the brand and enhanced the brand image as well as receiving several awards from the marketing community.