Jaguar Land Rover appoints new China sales head after Q1 drop

Mark Bishop, former managing director of Porsche China, to take over

Jaguar Land Rover has appointed a former Porsche executive as its new China head of sales, the automaker owned by Tata Motors Ltd said on Monday, amid a slowdown in one of its key markets.

Mark Bishop, former managing director of Porsche China, will oversee sales and marketing for Jaguar, Land Rover and cars made through JLR's joint venture with China's Chery Automobile in the country, the automaker said in a statement.

JLR's sales fell by a fifth year-on-year in China, the world's largest car market, for the first three months of the year as an economic slowdown weighs on the auto industry.

Bishop succeeds Yi Lu, who resigned as president in mid-April citing personal reasons after serving in the position for roughly a year.

James Hu, a current sales and customer services executive at JLR, will become deputy president of sales and marketing.