One of Denmark's smallest car importers, RSA Denmark, is now shedding light on why the country manager suddenly left his position back in September last year. It was an expulsion.
Steffen Vilstrup suddenly quit as country manager for RSA Denmark in September last year. It has now emerged that the Norwegian importer expelled him.
RSA Danmark is behind the import of car brands such as Maxus, JAC and KGM. The reason for the sudden departure was initially unknown to anyone other than the importer's management.
The new sales manager at RSA Denmark, Allan Hagelskjær, has spoken out in a press release from Autobranchen Danmark. He took over the responsibility from Steffen Vilstrup.
Hagelskjær explains that discrepancies can be due to different agreements with dealers.
This suggests that the former country manager gave special benefits to selected dealers, which created dissatisfaction among others.
Allan Hagelskjær elaborates on the situation in the announcement. He points to individual agreements and subsidies as a problem.
– We have been told by several dealers about various individual agreements and subsidies. Our feeling is that perhaps a handful of dealers have even received very favorable subsidies and various subsidies.
– And those opportunities of course disappeared with immediate notice due to the dismissal (of the former country manager, ed.). This may be a cause of loss and dissatisfaction for some, says Allan Hagelskjær.
Director will not comment on expulsion
Several RSA dealers have criticized the importer. The criticism concerns the terms of the cooperation. The special agreements for individual dealers have created a stir.
The expulsion of Steffen Vilstrup meant that the favorable agreements came to an abrupt end. This quickly led to frustration among the affected dealers.
Allan Hagelskjær informs Motor magazine that there is a pending case. The case is between the expelled director and RSA in Norway.
He therefore does not wish to comment further on the expulsion itself. The details are being kept internal while the case is ongoing.
Motor magazine writes that the media outlet has spoken to Steffen Vilstrup. However, he has not wanted to comment on the expulsion.
The news of Steffen Vilstrup's resignation came to light in the fall of 2024. It happened with immediate effect.
Change of director and management at RSA Denmark
At that time, a letter was sent out to dealers and partners. The letter briefly mentioned the resignation. The management of RSA Denmark temporarily passed to Dorte Vinther, office operations manager.
Frank Duvold, CEO of RSA's parent company in Norway, confirmed the resignation at the time.
– The company continues in Denmark as it always has, but without the person you are asking about, who is no longer in the office. That is all I can say in that regard, wrote Frank Duvold.
Steffen Vilstrup managed to be the head of RSA Denmark for four years. Before that he worked at Fiat Professional. Here he was both on the importer side and as brand manager at the dealer Terminalen.
RSA Danmark continues to import Maxus, JAC and KGM into Denmark under the new management. You can read more about new car brands and trends in the automotive industry here at Boosted.dk. Among other things, we have taken a closer look at the new electric vans from Maxus.
