Subaru snags social media guru Sheriece Matias from VW

Subaru of America Inc. has hired a new manager of corporate communications. She is Sheriece Matias, and she reports to Michael McHale, director of corporate communications for the Japanese car company.

Matias, based in Cherry Hill, N.J., will be responsible for social-media communications outreach as well as Subaru's business and lifestyle media relations.

"Sheriece's industry knowledge, social media expertise and passion for story-telling makes her an excellent addition to team and perfect match for the Subaru brand," McHale said.

"We have increased our sales by over 50% in the past few years and with important product launches coming up, Sheriece will help spread the word about our brand to both traditional and social-media audiences as we look to break more records in the coming years."

Before joining Subaru, Matias was corporate communications manager for Volkswagen. At VW, she oversaw the German carmaker's internal and external communications activities, social-media campaigns and corporate social-responsibility program.

Before that Matias was the publicist for the Military Channel and other TV networks and worked for The Boeing Co. in Virginia, California and Texas.

She has an undergraduate degree from American University and a master's in communications from Georgetown University.

Hawke Fracassa covers the automotive industry from Detroit for TorqueNews.com. He can be reached at hawkefracassa@aol.com or (248) 747-1550. Follow him on Twitter @HawkeFracassa.

Image source: Subaru