Bernhard To Step Down at Month's End

Washington, DC - January 8, 2007: The AIADA newsletter reported that Wolfgang Bernhard, head of Volkswagen's VW brand group is to step down at the end of January, earlier than expected, according to a report by Channel News Asia.

Bernhard is expected to announce his decision as part of a reorganization package delivered by VW Chief Martin Winterkorn this Wednesday during a meeting of Volkswagen's supervisory board. Bernhard will remain in charge of the company's factories but his other responsibilities, new model development and sales, will be taken away from him, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine said this weekend.

The magazine also said that Winterkorn, who officially took over as head of Europe's biggest automaker on January 1, also plans to split the company's brands into two new units: VW, Skoda and SEAT in one; and the more luxurious and sporty Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini in the other.