Porsche’s North American CEO Leaves Company

President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Kjell Gruner, has left the company. The former Porsche AG chief marketing officer took the wheel to oversee our region less than three years ago and has reportedly made an abrupt exodus. 

According to sources speaking with Automotive News, losing the CEO was an unexpected turn of events. "The news came out of left field," said an insider who requested to remain anonymous.

Porsche Cars North America COO Joe Lawrence and CFO Thierry Kartochian will assume the relevant business duties until a suitable replacement is found. 

From Automotive News:

In a statement, Porsche noted Gruner was leaving the company "at his own request."

Gruner joined Porsche in 1999 from Boston Consulting Group. In 2004, he left Porsche for Daimler, where he rose to director of strategy for Mercedes-Benz Cars before returning to Porsche in 2010.

One of Gruner’s final acts as CEO involved leading a retailer meeting in the Canary Islands in late June. It’s unclear why he suddenly left Porsche and it's unlikely that we’ll get any concrete answers from the manufacturer. 

“We thank Kjell Gruner for his excellent work at Porsche,” stated Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG. "First as the Head of Marketing globally and then leading the American market, he has played an important role in the global development of the Porsche brand in recent years. Both personally and professionally, we wish him all the best.”

[Image: Porsche AG]

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