Porsche Cars North America CEO Kjell Gruner steps down

Porsche Cars North America CEO Kjell Gruner has left the company effective immediately.

The former Porsche AG chief marketing officer and global vice president of marketing took over the top job less than three years ago.

"The news came out of left field," said a source who requested not to be identified.

Porsche Cars North America COO Joe Lawrence and CFO Thierry Kartochian will lead the U.S. business in the interim.

In a statement, Porsche noted Gruner was leaving the company "at his own request."

Gruner joined Porsche in 1999 from Boston Consulting Group. In 2004, he left Porsche for Daimler, where he rose to director of strategy for Mercedes-Benz Cars before returning to Porsche in 2010.

Gruner led a U.S. retailer meeting in the Canary Islands late last month.

His departure comes as the brand’s U.S. sales are on track to hit a three-year high this year. Porsche also told dealers it expects U.S. sales to hit 80,000 next year, up nearly 15 percent from 2022.