Change at Porsche China

PORSCHE AG, the prominent sports car maker, has appointed Helmut Broeker to replace Mark Bishop as managing director of Porsche China, effective from January next year.

Broeker, a German in his 50s, has more than 24 years' experience in the automotive industry. Before joining Porsche AG in Stuttgart in June this year, Broeker worked for 21 years with BMW AG in various management posts covering Europe, North America, Africa, the Caribbean and Australia.

"I have worked closely with emerging markets like Africa. One of my strengths is I can build up an established market that has a sound base to support growth," said Broeker at Porsche China's headquarters on Nanjing Road in Shanghai yesterday.

Meanwhile, Bishop will move to a new position at Jebsen & Co, the partner of Porsche in China, and will be involved with Porsche retail sales.

The announcement came after the German car maker tripled its sales in China over the past three years, benefiting from a growing number of affluent people as well as the rapid development of the domestic auto market.

"Our growth not only comes from the development of the market, but also from our expanded dealer network, which makes Porsche much more accessible to customers," said Bishop.

Sales of Porsche rocketed from 386 units in 2004 to 2,305 units last year. The car maker expects to sell over 4,000 units this year.

Porsche will expand its service network in China's mainland to 20 Porsche Centers by the end of this year, up from five at the start of 2005.