• August 4, 2011

Volkswagen of America has made senior management changes -- all to improve customer experience performance. The changes put Mark Barnes, who is currently the company's head of sales, in the role of VP, Volkswagen Customer Experience. In the new position, Barnes, among other things, will integrate customer interaction tactics for both retail and corporate.

"We know we need a systemic approach to better manage the entire customer experience within VW," said Jonathan Browning, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, in a statement. "Now that we've put actions in place to address the customer voice in the product development process, and built a strong Quality organization, this is the next step in improving the foundation of our business."

The Volkswagen Academy, Customer Care, Customer Experience, and the CRM/Loyalty functions will report to Barnes.

Also, Frank Trivieri will run sales operations. Trivieri -- who was hired from General Motors of Canada, Ltd, where he was most recently general director of the organization's sales channel -- will oversee the dealer network. In this capacity, he will direct the automaker's regional strategy including sales, network operations, retail programs and fleet and remarketing.