Vauxhall has promoted fleet sales and remarketing director James Taylor to the new role of general sales director.

In his new role he is responsible for all vehicle sales activities, which includes his current responsibilities for the fleet and remarketing sectors.

Stephanie Howson remains as Vauxhall’s retail sales director, reporting hierarchically to Stephen Norman, group managing director of Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland, and now functionally to Taylor.

Norman said: “This well-earned promotion gives James the scope to concentrate as much, and more, on B2C new-vehicle channels as on pure B2B and used vehicle remarketing.”

Taylor added: “I am delighted to take up my new position as general sales director, working with a great team to deliver our strategic PACE! plan.

“Together, our goal is to deliver the sales growth and brand reputation enhancement that our great products and services deserve.”

The PACE! plan aims to improve efficiency in every area of the business, including reducing the levels of high-cost business it did in the past.

The Vauxhall and Opel brands, bought from former owner General Motors by PSA Group in a £1.9 billion acquisition finalised in August last year, will offer all its vehicles with a hybrid or fully electric drivetrain by 2024 as it aims to move towards a lower break-even point of 800,000 vehicles per year.

The plan aims to cut 1.1bn euros by 2020 and 1.7bn euros by 2026, while other efficiencies will be driven by combining manufacturing, research and procurement with its new French owner and a reduction in the number of vehicle platforms used by the brands from their current nine to two, helping reduce its cost per car by €700.

The two Groupe PSA platforms, CMP and EMP2, will lead to an EMP2-based SUV is planned for production in Eisenach from 2019 and an EMP2-based D-segment vehicle to be produced in Rüsselsheim.