Rob Tracey, the man credited with transforming the reputation of Skoda in the UK new car market, has stood down from his role as director and will be replaced by Chris Craft.

Craft joined Volkswagen in 1993 and has experience in marketing, sales and technical services. His most recent position was head of group services.

Tracey will now take up a position with Gedas UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Volks-wagen Group that provides IT services for the carmaker.

Under Tracey's guidance, Skoda sales jumped 70 per cent from 22,065 in 1998 to 37,687 in 2002. More people say they will now consider buying a Skoda, up from 18 per cent in 2000 to 29 per cent this year.

“It will be a great wrench to leave Skoda. I will miss the close relationship with staff and retailers. Together we have achieved enormous progress over the last five years – something I am very proud of,” says Tracey.