More changes at VW

[Pristle]

http://www.cartoday.com/content/news/singlepage.asp?in=8299


More Changes of VW
In with Winterkorn and out with Pischetsrieder - that was the decision of Volkswagen AG's supervisory board at a recent meeting; The Wolfsburg-based company's management also pledged to invest substantially more money in the development of new products.

Martin Winterkorn assumes the position of chairman of the board of management as of January 1 next year. His successor, who will assume the position of chairman of the board of management for Audi AG, will be announced at a later date.

At the same meeting it was agreed that Bernd Pischetsrieder would leave the board of management at the end of December, but he will continue to play a role in the Volkswagen Group's operations.

Apart from the management shuffle, the board has also approved plans to invest in the construction of a production plant outside the Indian city of Pune in the Maharashtra state.

The establishment of the new plant will also allow Volkswagen to circumvent the high import duties on vehicles that have historically hampered its plans to establish a brand presence in India. The plant is proposed to employ roughly 2 500 people and will begin production of a small passenger car model in the second half of 2009.

The Group's financial and capital expenditure planning for 2007 to 2009 was also discussed at Friday's meeting, with a projected R228 billion (NZ$44.5b) being invested in the automotive division over the next three years.

The lion's share (R112 billion(NZ$21.8b)) of the division's spending on equipment and production infrastructure will be used for the expansion of the Group's product range. Powertrain investments will include a planned switch to common rail-technology for diesel engines and enhancements to petrol units to improve performance, emissions and fuel consumption, a report said. Production of VW's DSG system will be stepped up in line with a notable growth in demand.

Volkswagen also hopes to achieve greater market penetration by placing emphasis on successor models and new derivatives of nearly all vehicle classes.