The former chief executive of luxury car-maker Porsche's British operations will take over Tata Motor's Jaguar Land Rover's US operations.
Mr Andy Goss, 53, the former head of Porsche Cars GB, will take up the role of President, Jaguar Land Rover North America, with overall responsibility for National Sales Company operations of both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands in the US and Canada from May 1, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.
“We are delighted to welcome Andy to the critically important North American team,” said Mr Phil Popham, Director of Jaguar Land Rover group sales.
North America has acquired an increasingly prominent role in Jaguar Land Rover's operations. Jaguar Land Rover retail sales in North America rose by 16 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of the firm's financial year, in contrast to its British and European businesses, which fell 13 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.
The firm estimated Jaguar had a 6.7 per cent share of the premium car market in the US, a small increase on 2009 “a change it attributed partly to the launch of the new XJ. Land Rover has maintained its market share, with demand for the Discovery LR4, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover making up for declining sales of the Freelander LR2.
Mr Goss had spent over a decade at Porsche, having joined the firm from Toyota in 1999. In Britain he is perhaps best known for leading a campaign against a change to London's congestion charge that would have required drivers of large family cars to pay significantly more than regular users.
Back in 2008, Mr Goss took on London's feisty mayor, Mr Boris Johnson, and ended with a legal victory, as a London court quashed the increase in the charge.