Volkswagen (VOWG_p) appointed a new management team on Thursday. The team, appointed by chief executive Matthias Mueller, effectively replaces the company’s research and development chief, who exited the company earlier in the month.
The new team will also help speed up the decision-making process, and reduce the complexity of Volkswagen. The number of top managers that will now report to the CEO has almost halved as a result of the changes. Ulrich Eichhorn will return to the company as R&D chief after a three-year stint with the German Automobile Industry Association.
The goal of the team is to free up time for Mueller so that he is able to concentrate on the company’s overall strategy of increasing business targets by 2025. The company also plans to shift its current automobile industry into primarily electrically-powered vehicles in the future.
The management team will also be in charge of several different areas of business, including sales, design, production, R&D and product strategy.
Eichhorn’s return to the company is a welcomed one. Eichhorn was in charge of the technical development of Bentley, a luxury brand of vehicles, and brings decades of experience to the team. Ralf-Gerhard Willner will lead the company’s overseas product strategy, Wolfram Thomas will be production chief and Fred Kappler will be in charge of sales.
