Volkswagen hires new head of group strategy to investigate US emissions scandal from scratch

Volkswagen has recruited Thomas Sedran as its new chief of corporate strategy to bring the automobile giant out of its U.S. diesel emissions scandal, the company announced on Monday.

Sedran will be joining as the new head of group strategy on Nov. 1. The new strategy chief will report to Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller, Volkswagen said in its statement. Mueller has been working with the company for a long time and succeeded Martin Winterkorn after the latter resigned.

Sedran is an outside voice invited to the company for a specific purpose, says VW, and is expected to showcase the German manufacturer's changing work culture.

Prior to hiring Sedran, the Wolfsburg-based automobile manufacturer hired a former judge, Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, who dealt with the legal compliance related to the bribery scandal between the manufacturers and the chairmen at Daimler AG, one of the competitors of Volkswagen.

The external hiring including chief financial officer Hans Dieter Poetsch, has surrounded the automobile company with questions about whether the carmaker needs more outsiders to investigate the case from scratch.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claimed that cars made by Volkswagen have software installed that do not allow emissions to be measured correctly. It was found that there was a huge difference between the emissions recorded in the testing room and the emissions seen on the roadways. Volkswagen has around 11 millions of cars that run globally, although not all of them have been found to be cheating on the emissions tests.

Sedran was previously associated with the European division of Opel’s General Motors Co. as an executive. The new Volkswagen chief also served as the managing director for Alix Partners, a turnaround firm. He has an MBA degree from the University of Hohenheim and a doctorate from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.