FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group shuffled management responsibilities at its core brand on Monday, freeing up CEO Herbert Diess to oversee the carmaker's radical strategy to mass produce electric cars.
The German multi-brand car and truck making giant, which also owns the Bentley, Bugatti, Audi, Porsche and Skoda brands, has staked its future, to the tune of 80 billion euros ($91 billion), on the mass-production of electric vehicles.
Volkswagen said Christian Senger will take over VW's Digital Car & Services from March 1 and head up group-wide cooperation on software and smart mobility concepts.
Senger previously headed the Volkswagen brand’s e-Mobility product line, the automaker said in a statement.
"He took charge of setting up this line and was instrumental in driving the brand’s electric offensive forward," the VW statement said. "He was responsible for the MEB, the modular electric toolkit, and for the vehicles belonging to the ID. family."
VW brand's COO Ralf Brandstaetter will take over responsibility for quality assurance and value engineering at the VW passenger car brand and take on responsibility for small, compact and mid- to full-product lines.
"This change will provide the CEO with greater leeway for shouldering the strategic tasks faced by the Group," Volkswagen said in a statement, referring to Diess.
Diess, who is head of the VW brand, will retain his role as head of VW's Product Safety Committee and Frank Welsch, who is currently VW's head of technical development, will be able to devote more time to his task as head of group r&d, the company said.
