Ford of Europe appoints Martin Sander as passenger vehicle chief

Sander brings 25 years of experience at Volkswagen Group, replacing Roelant de Waard and Gunnar Herrmann

Ford has appointed Martin Sander as its new general manager for passenger vehicles in Europe. 

Sander, who has more than 25 years of experience with the Volkswagen Group, previously held the position of senior vice-president of European sales at Audi. 

He will take over from Roelant de Waard and Gunnar Herrmann, who both retired last year, and will report directly to Ford of Europe president Stuart Rowley.

The German will begin to lead Ford’s European sales ventures on 1 June, where he will focus on pushing the firm's electric and connected vehicle business forward. 

Sander will also have the responsibility of developing Ford’s digital customer experience for European customers. 

“Martin is a highly experienced leader with a wealth of global experience,” said Rowley. 

“His drive, leadership and new thinking will speed the transformation of our passenger vehicle business in Europe to provide customers with new connected experiences."

Sander has prior experience in senior positions in North America, the UK and Europe and has a mechanical engineering degree from the Technical University of Braunschweig. 

He spent nearly three years as vice-president of sales for Audi in the Americas before spending a further few years as vice-president of sales for Audi Germany. 

He also led the German firm’s operations in Canada, before moving to the UK as managing director. 

He left Audi in November 2021 after two-and-a-half years in charge of its European sales department and will now be based in Cologne, Germany, where Ford plans to start EV production next year. 

Cologne is also the home of Ford’s major manufacturing facility used to build the Fiesta, which suffered a significant sales drop in 2021, due to supply constraints.