Schmitt makes changes at Seat.(Erich Schmitt of Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo S.A.)

Automotive News Europe, January, 2007 by Oliveira, Paulo Soares de

Byline: Paulo Soares de Oliveira

New Seat Chairman Erich Schmitt is shaking up the struggling Spanish carmaker.

Schmitt likely will make more management changes following the arrival of Berthold Kruger. The Volkswagen group veteran replaced Giuseppe Tartaglione as Seat's sales and marketing vice president January 1.

"Schmitt will renew Seat's top management by appointing his people," said Ramon Perez Nieto, head of Seat's Spanish dealer association, ANCOSAT.

Schmitt, Audi's former purchasing chief, replaced Andreas Schleef as Seat chairman on September 30. Audi and Seat are subsidiaries of VW group.

Conflicting views

Seat has set a goal of making a profit in 2008. It lost [euro]62.5 million in 2005. The...

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