LONDON — Former Nissan and Volkswagen government Paul Willcox would be the new boss of Vauxhall, the UK model that’s now a part of the Stellantis.

Willcox will take up the submit as managing director on Feb. 1, Vauxhall mentioned on Wednesday in a statement.

Stellantis, created by the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Cars, owns the Opel model, which trades as Vauxhall in Britain.

Vauxhall builds the Astra compact automobile at its Ellesmere Port manufacturing facility and the Vivaro van in Luton.

Willcox held numerous senior administration positions at Nissan and Volkswagen Group earlier than becoming a member of PSA, the place he has been head of European and Asian markets since July 2019.

Willcox was named an Automotive News Eurostar in 2013 and once more in 2015 for his work in boosting Nissan’s European gross sales.

He succeeds Stephen Norman, who will grow to be world head of gross sales for Opel/Vauxhall. Norman had lead Vauxhall since 2018.

Willcox takes cost of Vauxhall simply as an funding choice looms for its UK manufacturing operations.

Carlos Tavares, the previous head of PSA Group and now Stellantis CEO, has mentioned the British authorities’s choice to ban the sale of inner combustion engine vehicles in 2030 has narrowed the options for the way forward for Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant.

Reuters contributed to this report