The current head of Audi America will be the new leader at Volkswagen America.
Scott Keogh will become President and Chief Executive of Volkswagen Group of America, as well as chief of the North American region of Volkswagen (VW) effective Nov. 1st.
The 49 year-old, current head of Audi of America, will succeed Hinrich Woebcken, who will stay with the company as a formal adviser.
Keogh, who joined Audi as Chief Marketing officer in 2006 from Mercedes-Benz, is set to build upon the momentum and work on the implementation of the next stage in the company‘s growth strategy as they strive to develop Volkswagen into a more relevant player in North America, according to a statement given by current Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess.
According to Reuters, VW has agreed to spend more than $25 billion in the U.S. for claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. The buy backs will continue through the end of 2019.
Sales at VW fell more than 18% during September after being affected by the new emissions-testing rules in Europe. The company’s Jetta sedan sales dropped 33% this year, while sales of the Passat and Golf models spiked 34% and 38%, respectively.
The Atlas and Tiguan – the two new sport utility vehicles – now account for more than 40% of all U.S. sales of Volkswagen.
Mark Del Rosso, current president and CEO of Bentley Motors, and previously chief operating officer of Audi America, will immediately succeeded Keogh. Del Rosso’s replacement at Bentley is yet to be named.
