April 11, 2018 / 7:33 AM / Updated 2 hours ago

VW board to decide on new HR chief at Friday meeting: sources

BERLIN/HAMBURG (Reuters) - Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) supervisory board will on Friday decide on a replacement for personnel chief Karlheinz Blessing as part of a broader management overhaul, two sources said.

Karlheinz Blessing, member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG with responsibility for 'Human Resources and Organization' attends Volkswagen AG annual news conference in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

The German carmaker is poised to replace group Chief Executive Matthias Mueller with the head of its core brand, Herbert Diess as it aims to boost efficiency amid a post-dieselgate strategic shift, sources said on Tuesday.

    One of the sources said that Blessing will be replaced by Gunnar Kilian, a general secretary at VW’s works council who worked directly under labor boss Bernd Osterloh. German magazine Der Spiegel was first to report that Kilian could replace Blessing who joined VW in January 2016.

    Blessing’s removal will be part of a broader reshuffle that could affect other senior executives, the source said.

    Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Jan Schwartz; Editing by Edward Taylor