WASHINGTON: Volkswagen AG said it was tapping Hinrich J. Woebcken, who just took over on April 1 as the head of its new North American region, to serve as president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America.
In March, VW said its top US executive, Michael Horn, was stepping down immediately nearly six months after the German automaker admitted to installing software to allow 580,000 US diesel vehicles to emit excess emissions.
Woebcken, a former BMW executive who ran global purchasing among other jobs, started working at VW in March when he was named on a temporary basis to fill Horn's job. Woebcken's appointment as the head of VW's North American region was announced in January, but it did not be come effective until April 1.
Volkswagen remains in talks with US regulators in an effort to reach a settlement in the diesel emissions scandal ahead of an April 21 court deadline.
Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Brand, told employees Friday about the company's strategy for its newly established Volkswagen North American Region.
"The establishment of the North American Region provides the US, Mexico and Canada more freedom and more responsibility than ever before," Diess said in a statement.
Volkswagen said the new region will help it react better to customer and market demands. Diess told employees the company is committed to bringing new SUVs to market to appeal to US consumers.
