by John Neff
After all the speculation and rumors, Volkswagen announced today that Wolfgang Bernhard will be leaving his post as Chairman of the Volkswagen brand and vacating his seat on Volkswagen AG’s Board of Management. A true professional to the end, Bernhard put in his two weeks and will be leaving on January 31st. The company has been no doubt preparing for his exit, as we’ve known for some time that recently appointed Chairman of Volkswagen AG, Martin Winterkorn, has been planning a reorginization of the company’s management. We’re sure he’s got a successor for Bernhard already picked out. Nevertheless, Winterkorn will assume Bernhard’s duties as VW’s head honcho until his replacement is named.
Bernhard’s shoes will be tough to fill. He joined Volkswagen in February of 2005 and has been running VW since May of that year. He was brought in to whip the brand into shape by increasing productivity, lowering costs and improving quality. Most would say he succeeded in his task, though is leaving before the job is really finished. Where will Wolfie go now? Can’t say we know for sure, but DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche is probably blowing up Bernhard’s pager right now.
Check out VW’s official statement on the matter after the jump.
[Source: VW]
If you would like immediate updates, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!
Tags: Volkswagen, VW, DaimlerChrysler
Categories: Volkswagen, Audi
Stumble it!