VW taps Mueller as CEO; Horn keeps U.S. job; Skoda's Vahland steers new N.A. unit

Volkswagen AG named Porsche boss Matthias Mueller CEO and tapped Skoda chief Winfried Vahland to oversee a newly created North American business unit in a sweeping overhaul triggered by the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.

Michael Horn, strongly defended by VW’s U.S. dealers on Thursday following reports that he would lose his job, will remain head of Volkswagen in the U.S., the company said in a statement.

The changes in management and operations -- signalling VW's desire for a fresh start despite a crisis that is expected to grip the company for months to come -- shift more power to regions such as the U.S. and to brands such as Audi, Skoda and Seat.

In addition to Martin Winterkorn, who resigned as CEO this week and personally denied any knowledge of wrongdoing, some employees have already been suspended as a result of the emissions violations, said interim VW Chairman Berthold Huber. He called the crisis a “political and moral catastrophe” for VW.

Mueller said his "most urgent task" was to win back the trust of customers and consumers for the Volkswagen Group by "leaving no stone unturned." 

"Under my leadership, Volkswagen will do everything it can to develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry," he said. "If we manage to achieve that then the Volkswagen Group with its innovative strength, its strong brands and above all its competent and highly motivated team has the opportunity to emerge from this crisis stronger than before."

Among the changes planned:

• Volkswagen’s U.S., Mexican and Canadian operations will be combined in a “significantly strengthened” North American region. Vahland, 58, will take over as its leader on Nov. 1, when he will also become a member of the VW brand board of management.
• Bernhard Maier, 55, will succeed Vahland at Skoda. Maier has been board member for sales and marketing at Porsche. 
• Christian Klinger, 47, VW AG’s board member in charge of sales and marketing, is leaving the company. VW, in its statement, attributed the departure to “differences with regard to business strategy” and said it was “not related to recent events.” Mueller will steer sales activities on an interim basis.
• Seat brand President Juergen Stackmann, 54, will assume Klingler's post. And Audi sales boss Luca de Meo, 48, will become head of Seat.
• A new corporate operating structure will be created, oriented to the automaker's modular vehicle architectures. Under new groupings of premium brands, Porsche will be aligned with Bentley and Bugatti, while Audi will be linked with Lamborghini and Ducati. The Volkswagen brand, Seat, and Skoda will continue to function separately.
• The VW Group's production department will be disbanded immediately. It had been led by Thomas Ulbrich on an interim basis. "Going forward, the brands and regions will also have greater independence with regard to production,” Huber said in the statement. “So it follows that they should also hold the responsibility for these activities.
• VW will create the post of chief technology officer, who "will analyze and, if necessary, co-steer technical developments throughout the group as mandated by the group board of management." The new post is designed to speed up the rollout of new features.
• Hans Dieter Poetsch, who is currently finance chief, will become chairman of the supervisory board following a special shareholders meeting in November.

Mueller, 62, is a company veteran who worked as VW's head product strategist until 2010 when he was asked to lead Porsche.

Under Mueller's leadership VW will need to regain the trust of consumers and regulators after admitting to cheating on diesel emissions tests in the U.S. The crisis has wiped about 20 billion euros ($22.4 billion) off VW’s market value this week.

"Matthias Müller is a person of great strategic, entrepreneurial and social competence," VW's Interim Chairman Berthold Huber said in a statement. "He knows the Group and its brands well and can immediately engage in his new task with full energy. We expressly value his critical and constructive approach."

Mueller -- who has a cool, cosmopolitan demeanor -- has helped boost Porsche's profits 62 percent over four years. The brand's deliveries are on track to surpass 200,000 vehicles for the first time in 2015, with the addition of new models such as the Macan compact SUV.

“We know and value Matthias Mueller for his determination and decisiveness,” said Bernd Osterloh, VW’s labor leader. “He does not work on his own rather he is a team player. That is what Volkswagen needs now.”