Sarah Simpson will join Porsche Cars Great Britain as Chief Executive Officer on 1 September, taking over from Marcus Eckermann, who is set to take up a new role within Porsche AG.
Sarah Simpson has worked for the Volkswagen Group for more than 20 years, the past decade with Bentley Motors. Joining the company as Operations Director, Simpson became Regional Director for Bentley’s home market, the UK in 2014. Throughout the past seven years, she has assumed responsibility for other international regions, firstly adding Asia Pacific to her leadership role, before becoming Regional Director for UK, Middle East, Africa and India in January 2020.
“Sarah Simpson has worldwide experience in marketing and sales of premium vehicles,” says Barbara Frenkel, Vice President Region Europe at Porsche AG. “With this extensive knowledge, she will further strengthen our position in Great Britain.”
Great Britain is the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer’s fourth-largest market globally. Annual UK sales in 2020 were 14,270, with the newly launched Taycan taking second place, behind the Macan SUV. So far in 2021, the Taycan is the best-selling model.
Barbara Frenkel was recently appointed as a Member of the Executive Board of Porsche AG responsible for Procurement . “Barbara Frenkel has ample expertise – both on the supplier and the customer side. For this reason, she is an excellent choice. She is currently injecting a valuable boost into the European market and has developed it profitably, in contrast to the trend,” Chairman of the Executive Board Oliver Blume adds.
Born in the south-eastern German region of Franconia, Barbara launched her professional career in the international supply industry, working in Purchasing for Valeo and TRW Automotive. She has held various management positions at sports car manufacturer Porsche for 19 years. As the Head of the Sales Region Europe, Barbara Frenkel has increased the retail volume in the third-largest sales region by around ten percent over recent years and made a significant contribution to further expanding the retail organisation. Frenkel had previously held various management positions, such as the Head of Quality Systems and Methods, Head of Worldwide Dealership Training and Divisional Head of Sales Management and Development. Here she was responsible for process optimisation, qualification and digitalisation topics within Porsche AG’s sales department.
Seeing more women in senior roles like this is very positive for the automotive industry, Porsche have previously committed to increase the proportion of women across their entire workforce. This will see even more women moving up the Porsche ladder to senior roles.
Photographs by Porsche AG.