After seven and a half years at the helm of Ford France, Louis-Carl Vignon is preparing to open a new page in his career within the Hess Automobile group led by Anthony and Jonathan Hess.
Ford France chose the Spanish and pro-French Santiago Sainz to replace him. The latter spent more than three decades with the American manufacturer, the first half at its Spanish subsidiary. Here he handled almost all operational functions (marketing, network, sales and after-sales).
He then turned to an international career. He worked in Portugal and joined Ford of Europe in 2016 as European brand manager in Cologne (Germany). Most recently, it participated in the establishment of a partnership with Renault, which will produce Ford’s next two electric models in 2028. He will officially take office on July 1, 2026.
A long journey between car manufacturers
Louis-Carl Vignon started his career at Ford France in 1991 and worked in finance, marketing and sales for nine years.
Between 2000 and 2003 he was director of network development for Saab (General Motors), then head of the Chevrolet, Opel and Saab networks for Southern Europe, with responsibility for Italy, then sales director for Opel Italy.
After serving as general manager at Seat Italy for two years, he was appointed director of the brand’s EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa) by Alfa Romeo in 2012.
He left the automobile manufacturing sector in 2015, choosing to manage the automobile industry department in Cardiff, the insurance subsidiary of the BNP Paribas group, and returned to Ford France in September 2017.
Hess Automobile is a major player in distribution
After a career largely spent with automakers, Louis-Carl Vignon is now switching to distributors. The Hess Automobile group, which has approximately 2,200 employees, achieved a turnover of 1.3 billion euros in 2025.
The company distributes the Renault and Stellantis groups, as well as the Toyota, BMW, Volvo, Hyundai, Nissan, Suzuki and Isuzu brands, but not Ford. The group sold a total of 28,000 new vehicles and 28,000 used vehicles in 2025, placing it in the top 15 among the largest distribution groups in France.
(with Christophe Bourgeois)
Information: This content was prepared and published using AutomobileMagazine’s artificial intelligence-supported publishing system, in line with the information shared by international automotive manufacturers and reliable press sources.
Automobile Magazine – English News
Source link 2026-06-27 09:31:00
