Former Volkswagen New Zealand general manager, Dean Sheed, has taken the wheel of general manager at Audi New Zealand following a recent re-shuffle within the company.

Mr Sheed will transition to the general manager role at Audi New Zealand from March 12, taking over from its previous GM Dane Fisher who is bound for working with Lamborghini. He will officially begin his stewardship of the Audi brand on April 1st.

Mr Sheed joins Audi following a thirteen-year tenure as the general manager of Volkswagen New Zealand, where he led the brand through significant growth in vehicle sales while developing a network of new dealerships and service centres across the country.

Bringing along invaluable experience in all aspects of the business and the wider dealer group, Mr Sheed goes from strength to strength in his move to Audi, where he will work to maintain the luxury brand’s number one volume position.

Under Mr Sheed’s leadership, the Volkswagen New Zealand brand presence grew from 350 units the year before he started to 3,329 last year, a highly impressive legacy.

Mr Sheed joins the Audi brand during a busy month, with the launch of the highly anticipated urban explorer Q3 model as well as the Audi driving experience launch which allows Audi enthusiasts to test drive their preferred Audi vehicles around premium New Zealand tracks.

“I’m joining Audi at a really exciting time. There is a great sense of momentum in the brand,” said Mr Sheed.

“I can’t wait to get the Audi R8 on the track at Hampton Downs when the Audi driving experience kicks off in April.”