Joachim Sell

The 47-yearold German not only oversees car sales in 16 markets, he also looks after the sale of parts and accessories, and the retail of Opel components to other GM (General Motors) brands.

- Jeremy Chua

TO say that Joachim Sell has the world on his shoulders is not an understatement.

Joachim, who has a master’s degree in industrial engineering, (a combination of business administration and mechanical engineering), is very much into cars. However, prior to joining Opel, he was working as a consultant at another company.

Joachim’s foray into the automotive industry only began in 2003, when he started working in Opel’s European after sales division.

He then moved to the firm’s strategic business development division, before joining its product planning department.

With his breadth and depth of experience, Joachim sat down with Torque to discuss Opel’s growth strategy, and told us about some of the interesting cars he’s driven.

How exactly did you end up working in Opel?

I was working as a strategic management consultant and had an assignment with Opel. That’s how I got to know and ended up at the company. This happened about 12 years ago.

You mentioned that you were in product planning. Which models’ development were you involved in?