Cazoo has appointed Thomas Orthgiess to the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO), marking the first senior leadership appointment since Motors announced it will rebrand as Cazoo on 26 May.
Having amassed considerable senior-level experience in the sector, Orthgiess joins from La Centrale, which became one of France’s leading automotive marketplaces during his tenure as CPO, where he played a key role in evolving the product offering and creating greater value for dealer partners and car buyers.
Previously he was Head of Consumer Core at mobile.de, Germany’s biggest online vehicle marketplace.
Orthgiess will lead Cazoo’s product rollout strategy – which continued to ramp up last month with the launch of a ChatGPT car search app – with a focus on improving the end-to-end user experience
Barry Judge, CEO of Cazoo & Motors, said: “Thomas is an outstanding Chief Product Officer who brings invaluable experience from both market-leading and challenger automotive marketplace platforms.
“Having seen how leadership is built and how challengers take share, he will be applying those learnings to this next phase of Cazoo’s growth.”
Orthgiess said: “I’m delighted to join Cazoo at such a pivotal moment. With a strong brand and a modern platform, the opportunity to establish a true challenger in the UK market is clear and I’m looking forward to helping drive that ambition forward.
“It’s rare to see high consumer awareness, a compelling platform and a market ready for change come together – and that combination creates a unique opportunity to accelerate growth.”