Volkswagen has a new leader for its certified pre-owned program to replace Scott Weitzman, its former general manager of used-vehicle operations who is now chief operating officer at digital marketing firm DealerX.

Named the national CPO senior manager at VW is Michael Ashton, who was previously the regional used-car manager for the Northeast for the automaker.

Before joining the team at Volkswagen two years ago, Ashton was the national CPO and remarketing manager at Jaguar-Land Rover.

In talking with Auto Remarketing about the new role leading VW CPO, which he began on Sept. 1, Ashton said one of his goals was to “absolutely focus on dealer profitability.”

And that, he said, has many components to it — be it emphasizing the value of certified on the showroom floor or best practices dealership-wide.

Honing in on dealer profitability was something on which Ashton said his predecessor Weitzman also put a great deal of emphasis, and he hopes to continue those efforts.

Additionally, Ashton aims to continue expanding the level of communication between VW and its dealer body in regards to used and CPO processes.

These goals tie in to Ashton’s emphasis on relationship-building with the dealers; CPO, he said, is a partnership between VW and its dealers. That is something he put a great deal of importance on during his time leading the Northeast, and he plans to those efforts national.

Weitzman’s New Role

Meanwhile, it was announced Thursday that DealerX named Weitzman its COO.  Weitzman was at VW for three years, after positions with Ford, Autobytel.com, J.D. Power and Associates and iSky, Inc.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to join the innovative team at DealerX,” said Weitzman.

“I intend to leverage my 20-plus years of experience in the automotive realm and help deliver winning strategies and premium digital solutions to our partners; solutions unlike any other offerings available in the market,” he added.