June 4, 2012: Volkswagen is giving extra momentum to its Strategy 2018 with an extensive structural and management realignment.
“Our company has grown strongly and become more international in recent years. This fundamental reorganisation is the right response to the increasing challenges. At the same time we are laying the foundations for keeping the Group and its brands on their successful course, even in a difficult market environment,” said Board of Management CEO Prof. Dr Martin Winterkorn on June 2. This followed the Supervisory Board’s approval of the planned measures at an extraordinary meeting.
Under the reorganisation, a new Board of Management function for China will be set up at Group level, thus underpinning the significance of the largest sales market in the world. The Volkswagen Group delivered some 2.3 million vehicles in the China region in fiscal 2011 and reported a pro rata operating profit there of €2.6 billion (Rs 17,942 crore). Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, latterly Group Board of Management member with responsibility for Commercial Vehicles, will head the new function.
The commercial vehicles business has become the second strong pillar for the VW Group in recent years. The further structuring of the Commercial Vehicles function under the leadership of Leif Östling now paves the way for close cooperation between the MAN, Scania and Volkswagen CV brands to leverage synergies and jointly harness the substantial worldwide growth potential in this segment.
In his new function, Leif Östling, president and CEO of Scania until August 31, will be supported by a team comprised of managers from MAN, Scania and VW who will further networking and cooperation among the companies involved. In addition to these measures at Group level, several important changes will also be made at brand level.
As a member of the Executive Committee of the VW Group, Dr. Georg Pachta-Reyhofen, CEO of MAN SE, takes on additional responsibility for the Group-wide coordination of the industrial engines business and for MAN Power Engineering. Anders Nielsen, latterly Head of Production and Logistics on the Scania Executive Board, will become CEO of MAN Truck & Bus AG. Martin Lundstedt, currently Head of Franchise and Factory Sales on the Scania Executive Board, takes over as CEO at Scania.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang Dürheimer, CEO of Bentley and president of Bugatti, moves to Audi in Ingolstadt to become the member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Technical Development. At the same time, Luca de Meo, currently Head of Marketing at the VW Group and the VW brand, becomes member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at Audi. Dr. Bernd Martens, currently Head of New Product Start-ups in Volkswagen Group Purchasing, takes over as member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Purchasing at Audi.
These and further management appointments will chiefly come into effect on September 1, 2012.
Commenting on the upcoming changes, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn said: “Our clear goal is to continue our successful course of recent years with great momentum and stability. I am convinced that now more than ever, the Volkswagen Group has the right people in the right positions to make our Strategy 2018 a success.”
Dr Winterkorn also reiterated the Company’s unaltered management principles: “The multi-brand strategy is, and will remain, the foundation of Volkswagen’s success. All brands have a high degree of operational autonomy and responsibility. At the same time, we are now further intensifying knowledge transfer and management links within the Group. That is how we can leverage synergies and consistently harness growth opportunities – to the benefit of each individual brand and the Group as a whole.”
The photograph shows Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn (middle), with Hans Dieter Pötsch (left), Member of the Board of Management of VW AG with responsibility for Finance and Controlling, and Stephan Grühsem, General Representative of VW AG with responsibility for Group Communications.