Volkswagen Brand Names New CFO Amid Cost-Cutting Campaign — Update

By David Sachs

Volkswagen Group named David Powels chief financial officer of its namesake brand amid a cost-cutting initiative that has angered workers in Germany over potential plant closures.

Powels will take the financial reins at Volkswagen brand on Oct. 1 from Patrik A. Mayer, the company said Monday. He comes from the company's Seat brand, where he headed finance and IT. Mayer will take Powels' old job, the carmaker said.

The CFO swap within German car giant's mass-market segment--which houses the VW and Seat brands, as well as Skoda--comes as the company grapples with a shift toward electric vehicles that turned bumpy as sales slowed and competition intensified.

Powels will be tasked with making the brand more competitive with cost savings, Thomas Schaefer, chief executive of the Volkswagen cars brand, said. Powels will take over as CFO under more difficult conditions than did Mayer, who became CFO in 2022, the executive said.

Last week, Volkswagen sparred with representatives from its workers' council in Germany over the prospect of closing plants as part of a plan aimed at saving 10 billion euros ($11.09 billion) at the brand by 2026.

The company reached a deal with workers in December last year in a bid to boost the brand's profitability, but executives said last week that the plan was falling short and that more aggressive measures were needed. Plant closures in Germany couldn't be ruled out, executives said, which would be an unprecedented move in Volkswagen's history.

Powels joined Volkswagen in South Africa in 1989 and has held a variety of roles, including South America chief and vice president for the SAIC Volkswagen Automotive joint venture in China. Since 2021, he has been has been finance and IT head at Seat.

Volkswagen Group has been seeking closer cooperation among its mass-market brands, which as a segment were the biggest contributor to the group's revenue but lagged behind other segments in terms of profitability in the first half.

Write to David Sachs at david.sachs@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 09, 2024 10:41 ET (14:41 GMT)

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