Volkswagen Group Ireland has appointed Pat Ryan as head of group customer relationship manager (CRM) with effect from December 1. Pat has a vast amount of experience in the motor industry, having studied Mechanical Engineering at UCD before working with Nissan in Japan and Ricardo UK. He graduated from Smurfit Business School in 2002 with a MBA.

Pat returned to Ireland to work in sales roles with Nissan Ireland and then Mazda Ireland. He joined Volkswagen Group Ireland in 2010 and for the last 2 years has been head of sales for Volkswagen passenger cars as they consolidated their position as Ireland’s No. 1 car brand.

“Effective and efficient management of customer relationships is an increasingly critical driver of both sales and aftersales profitability for our brands and for our dealer network. Pat Ryan will lead the implementation and ongoing development of our CRM strategy with our dealer network” - Robert Guy, group service director, Volkswagen Group Ireland.

“I am very excited about the new role. I see huge opportunities with CRM going forward for our brands and the retailer network and expect Ireland to be a best practice market for Volkswagen Group brands across Europe,” Pat Ryan, head of group CRM, Volkswagen Ireland.

Caption: Pat Ryan, new head of group CRM, Volkswagen Ireland.