Audi Ireland has appointed Damien O’Sullivan as new Audi Ireland Brand Director, effective 1 August 2021. O’Sullivan will return to Audi Ireland after a successful six years working for Audi in Asia, initially in Taiwan as Aftersales Director and then for the last 3 years in China in the position of Vice President Dealer Development for the Audi Sales Division based in Changchun.
Prior to taking up his role abroad in 2015, O’Sullivan held various roles in Audi Ireland including Financial Controller, Sales Planning Manager and Head of Aftersales. The appointment comes as Thorsten Godulla will be promoted to President of SAIC Audi Sales and Marketing in Shanghai, China. Godulla will be continuing his 27-year career with Audi in a recently launched new joint Venture.
During his time at the Irish business, Godulla successfully steered the business through the challenges of Brexit and ongoing challenges of Covid, cemented Audi Ireland’s position as number one premium brand during his tenure and oversaw the launch of key strategic new models including; the Audi E-tron, Audi A3, the e-tron GT and Q4 e-tron to market.
Speaking today, Carla Wentzel, Group Managing Director, Volkswagen Group said: “On behalf of the Board of Management, I would like to thank Thorsten for everything he has done over the past three years. Thorsten is a living testament to the Future is an Attitude ethos and has collaborated successfully with the Audi Dealer Council and the Audi Dealer Network to achieve the best performance in all areas but also to prepare for the acceleration to increased electric vehicles and digital services. We wish him all the best in his new exciting role. We are also delighted to welcome Damien back to Audi Ireland and we look forward to working with him in a very exciting period for the brand”.
Speaking today Mr. Godulla said, “It was an honour for me to work with the most professional automotive Dealer Network in Ireland. My time in Ireland was challenging due to Brexit and Covid. We worked closely in partnership with the dealer network to deliver the best customer experience with amazing products, in both Sales and in Aftersales. I want to thank my amazing team at Audi Ireland for their contribution and the great team spirit during my tenure.
I really look forward to moving to Shanghai to start a new chapter in my career to establish successfully the new Joint-Venture with SAIC with new products and a completely new dealer network. It’s a great pleasure to welcome Damien O’Sullivan back to Audi Ireland. With his international experience in Taiwan and China he will successfully manage the future success of the Audi Brand in Ireland.”
