In the new year, the IRS Group is making sure to stay firmly on course for success by adding Uwe Artz to its top management. As the COO of Smart Repairs & Hail, the internationally experienced Artz will be responsible for expanding the division and representing it within the holding company.
Having enjoyed considerable success as a member of the executive board of Hertz Rent a Car AG in Switzerland, Regional Director for Central Europe at Belron International Ltd. in the UK and managing director of Carglass Austria GmbH, the 54-year-old sees the European leader as offering ideal scope for his future work. “Just being part of the dynamic company that the IRS Group is today is already good enough reason to take on this new role. I see it as a great honour to be able to help shape the group’s future.” Artz, who has 27 years of management experience, 8 of which were spent abroad, is impressed by the concentrated knowledge and expertise on tap within the group when it comes to repairing and reconditioning vehicles. “But the subject that excites me the most is smart repairs and the challenge of making this field an even more familiar and better-established product on the market”, Artz continues.
As the manager explains, he sees cooperation with his future colleagues in the classic body and paintwork division as a huge opportunity to make the most of the IRS Group’s USP: being able to offer customers everything from a single source. The same applies to the synergies resulting from the group’s structure. “That really makes us unique on the market.” And his goals? Without hesitation, Artz replies: “To unlock and develop existing potential: not only to consolidate our market leadership but also to forge even further ahead with the various teams.” Then, taking a moment to reflect after all, he goes on: “My work has always focused on people. My prime goal is to work with motivated staff to inspire customers.”
Norbert Dohmen, CEO of the IRS Group, has also achieved his goal. “In hiring Uwe Artz, we have gained an expert with proven experience in an international market environment, whose expertise will add many more chapters to the IRS Group’s success story. We are happy to have taken him on and look forward to the results.”
The IRS Group is Europe’s leading association in the fields of smart repairs, body repairs and paintwork, as well as repairing hail damage to vehicles’ outer shells. It provides the full range of services involving preparing and repairing the bodywork and interior of used cars, hire cars, crash-damaged and lease cars. The group currently employs more than 1800 people.