Volkswagen Group realigns management model in China

The Chinese region is one of the strongest markets, and the Volkswagen Group looks to strengthen its position in the Chinese automotive sector by realigning the management model for its organization in the country.

According to the Volkswagen Group, the central element of the conglomerate’s realignment plan is a regional China Board led by Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of the VW brand. The said Board will take all major decisions in the region on a cross-brand basis and in close collaboration with the joint venture companies. As a result, the realignment will allow the Volkswagen Group’s Chinese arm to become more independent, make and execute decisions faster, and develop closer ties with its joint venture partners.

“With this new structure in China, we are laying the foundation for the strong, integrated management of our Group activities in close collaboration with our joint venture companies. The China region is being given significantly greater decision-making powers and autonomy. We are therefore tailoring our services, technologies, and products even faster and more consistently to the specific needs of our local customers,” Brandstätter said.

In addition, the consortium will pool the technical resources and capabilities of its brands more closely to significantly accelerate the development pace of innovative technologies and digital services in China.

Brandstätter’s Board in China will tap on Marcus Hafkemeyer, currently Executive Strategy Advisor at Huawei Automotive in Shanghai, as Chief Technology Officer of Volkswagen Group China.

“We are delighted to welcome Marcus Hafkemeyer, an outstanding automotive and digitalization expert currently based in Shanghai. Marcus has been working with Chinese automotive companies for many years and therefore has extensive experience with the specific local development opportunities and the needs of Chinese customers,” said Brandstätter.

Volkswagen Russia’s Stefan Mecha will also be reassigned as Head of Group Sales in China and the new CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand.

“Stefan Mecha is one of our most experienced and internationally distinguished managers. He has an outstanding international record of success in Brazil, South Africa, and most recently, Russia. Stefan has impressively demonstrated his ability to expand business sustainably and successfully, even under the most challenging conditions,” Brandstätter added.

Both Hafkemeyer and Mecha will report to Brandstätter. The former will advance and accelerate the pace of autonomous development activities in the region, and will also leverage Group-wide synergies in close collaboration with the relevant brand and entity CTOs while the latter will assume the role of the Head of Group sales in the region.

“China plays a pivotal role in the success of our New Auto strategy and the global transformation of Volkswagen. Systematically aligning our organization to the specifics of the Chinese automotive market is a key success factor. The focus of our strategy is to strengthen our local research and development. Here, too, we will be taking up the motto of ‘in China, for China’, which already applies to our factories. Priority areas are the further electrification of the portfolio as well as digital technologies and mobility services,” Brandstätter said.

The realignment in Volkswagen Group’s leadership in China will take effect on August 1, 2022.

Photos from Volkswagen

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