Volkswagen Group of America today announced the departure of Michael Horn, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America.
Volkswagen Group of America today announced the departure of Michael Horn, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. Through mutual agreement with Volkswagen AG, Horn will be leaving to pursue other opportunities effective immediately.
Michael Horn Pic: Reuters
The company announced, on an interim basis Hinrich J. Woebcken, who was recently announced as the new Head of the North American Region and Chairman of Volkswagen Group of America, will assume the role of president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America.
Volkswagen would like to thank Horn for his contributions to the company during his tenure in the United States. “I want personally to say ‘thank you’ to Michael Horn for the great work he has done for the brand and with the dealers in the United States,” said Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen brand. “During his time in the U.S., Michael Horn built up a strong relationship with our national dealer body and showed exemplary leadership during difficult times for the brand,” he added.
Volkswagen Group
Michael Horn joined Volkswagen in 1990 and became the head of Volkswagen USA in 2014. Prior to assuming this role, Horn handled many positions like Head of Volkswagen sales North West Europe, Head of sales and marketing luxury class vehicles, Head of sales for Europe, and Global Head of After Sales at Volkswagen AG (VW).
Horn has been insistent on staying on board as the CEO of Volkswagen USA in the aftermath of the ‘defeat device’ scandal when ay called for his head. A federal judge has given Volkswagen until 24th March to reach a settlement with the U.S authorities an vehicle recall.
VW has set aside €6.7bn to deal with the costs of recalling and fixing cars across the world with almost 11 million cars affected globally of which over 600,000 are in America. According to authorities, the company could be slapped with a fine of over $20 billion.