MONTVALE, N.J. -

On Tuesday, Mercedes-Benz USA revealed a series of management changes, effective today, including naming a new general manager of fleet and pre-owned.

Appointed to the position is Kurt Cornell, who most recently served as an area manager for the Western region.

“In his new role, Cornell will be responsible for volume, customer experience and profit targets by ensuring that all activities within the pre-owned vehicles, remarketing programs and fleet operations departments are appropriately executed,” officials explained.

Cornell will report directly to Mike Slagter, senior vice president, sales.

And Cornell is joining the used side of MBUSA as sales are soaring. This past March, Mercedes-Benz moved 8,665 CPO vehicles for the month (up 23.9 percent) and 24,353 units for the quarter (up 22.2 percent).

Comenting on his new position, Cornell told Auto Remarketing, "This is an exceptional opportunity for me to be directly involved in two rapidly growing segments of Mercedes-Benz business, pre-owned and fleet sales.  

"In this role, I plan on working to develop increased value for Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned customers, which will help expose the Mercedes-Benz brand to new customers, and I plan to work hard to further develop MBUSA's relationship with our fleet customers," he continued.

Cornell will be replacing Mark Webster in the fleet and pre-owned position, as Webster will assume Tracey Matura’s previous post as general manager for smart USA. Matura is being appointment regional general manager for the Central region, and will be responsible for all service, sales, marketing, operations and dealer relations for the company's Ccentral region in Chicago.

During the time Matura held the role of GM of smart, the exec oversaw the re-launch of the brand in the U.S., when MBUSA took over in July 2011. 

Next up, Andrew Noye, most recently area manager for the Northeast region, will assume the role of regional general manager for the southern region.

In this position, Noye will have oversight of all service, sales, marketing, operations and dealer relations for the company's southern region in Jacksonville, Fla., according to officials.

Bob Yeatman will now hold the title of regional general manager, western region, in Irvine, Calif. Most recently, Yeatman served as general manager, sales operations at MBUSA.

Blair Creed, most recently GM, Mercedes-Benz Manhattan, will be replacing Yeatman as general manager, sales operations.

“Creed will oversee the development and implementation of all policies, programs and activities in support of all Mercedes-Benz new vehicle sales and objectives,” the company said.

“He will also be responsible for sales volume planning, which aligns MBUSA's strategic sales direction and front-line execution,” they added. 

Jay Schmid will take over Creed's position as general manager, Mercedes-Benz Manhattan.

In this role, he will be responsible for all operations at the Manhattan dealership, including personnel management, customer experience, sales, aftersales, marketing and community relations.

Sarah Rubenoff can be reached at srubenoff@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.