FIAT Auto has appointed Herbert Demel as chief executive officer.

Previously, Demel was president and chief executive officer of automotive engineering company Magna Steyr and he also spent 12 years with the Volkswagen-Audi Group.

From 1990 on he was head of product development at Audi and from 1994 to 1997 he was chief executive officer. In 1997 he took over the post of chief executive officer of Volkswagen Brazil, a position he held until the end of 2002.

He takes on his new role from November 15, when current president Giancarlo Boschetti leaves the group.