In a shock move, Volkswagen's newly appointed head of North America, Winfried Vahland, is leaving the company less than three weeks after being assigned to the position.
In a statement VW Group said that Vahland is leaving the company at his own request. The sudden exit is, according to Volkswagen, due to "differing views" on the company's new structure. VW said Vahland's exit is not related to the emissions scandal.
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The company's US chief, Michael Horn, who was set to report to Vahland, is apparently staying in his current role.
At the end of last month, the VW Supervisory Board in Wolfsburg billed the reorganisation of the VW Group’s activities in North America (combining the USA, Mexico, and Canada organisation to form a new North America region) as a “strengthening”. Former chairman of the Skoda board, Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland (58) was appointed to head-up the new organisation.
The new CEO of Volkswagen Group, Matthias Müller, thanked Vahland for his 25 years of service to the VW Group. However, his resignation before even taking up the position increases the sense of instability at VW as it grapples with its current crisis.
