HERNDON, Va. -

Volkswagen of America revealed Thursday it has a new Vice President of customer experience for the company.

Tapped for the position is Robert Martell, a 25-year veteran of Volkswagen in both the U.S. and Canada.

During that time, the company noted he has served in a variety of increasingly responsible sales and dealer-interfacing positions in his tenure at Volkswagen.

"The customer experience position is one of the critical foundational elements to Volkswagen’s continued success here in the U.S. market," said Jonathan Browning, president and chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group of America and president of Volkswagen of America.

"Having someone of the caliber of Robert ready to step into this post so quickly is a reflection of his capabilities, his strong relationships with our dealer network, and the growing bench strength within our company,” he added.

Martell will be joining the customer experience organization, which was developed last year to determine and implement strategies and initiatives to support the customer experience in all business activities, the company explained.

“This includes the integration and alignment of each customer interaction at both the dealership and VWoA corporate levels. The Volkswagen Academy, customer care, customer experience, and CRM/Loyalty functions report to Martell in his new post,” officials added.

Highlighting Martell’s time with the company, he joined Volkswagen of Canada in 1986 as a district sales manager.

Throughout his career he has held numerous positions in both sales operations and corporate functions, including a key role as general manager of dealer relations, where he managed interactions between Volkswagen dealers and company leadership, the OEM concluded.