CIAN O’BRIEN has been appointed head of sales operations at Audi.

Cian succeeds Paul Sansom, who has been promoted to head up operations at Audi South Africa as managing director.

Cian O’Brien (36) commences his new Audi role from 01 September 2014. Previously he was director of SEAT Ireland.

A 36-year-old native of Cork, Cian’s previous experience includes Aftersales Manager and Fleet & Used Car Manager for Audi Ireland, as well as extensive retail automotive experience having worked with Renault, Lexus, Audi and Nissan in a variety of management positions.

Andre Konsbruck, director of Audi, said:

“Paul leaves Audi UK sales in terrific shape and we are very grateful for his tremendous contribution to our success. Under his leadership in various management roles over the last eight years, Audi UK achieved numerous record results in both sales and aftersales. We wish him plenty of success in his international assignment.

“We are excited about Cian joining our team as he brings a real depth and breadth of experience and we feel he is the right person to continue to lead our ambitious sales plans in which Audi aims to remain the UK’s number one premium brand, with continued focus on customer satisfaction and profitability.”