Skoda Appoints New Board of Directors Chairman

Winfried Vahland is the name of the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Skoda Auto, effective September 2010. Vahland, who joined Audi in Ingolstadt in 1990 as Head of Company Planning, Profit Analysis and Sales Controlling, will be replacing Reinhard Jung, who is retiring.

The industrial engineer moved to Wolfsburg in 1993 as Director of Group Controlling. In 1995 he took responsibility for Sales Controlling of the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen brand.

He was Vice President of Finance and Corporate Strategy at Volkswagen in Brazil from 1997 to 2002. Vahland subsequently moved to Skoda as member of the Board of Directors responsible for Commercial Affairs and was made Vice Chairman in 2003. He took his present post in July 2005.

Reinhard Jung, the incumbent Skoda Chairman, joined the Volkswagen Group in 1974. As a project engineer, he held various management positions before becoming Head of International Production. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Skoda Auto since October 2007.

“Reinhard Jung has been successful in building the Skoda brand. The Group would like to express its sincere appreciation for his achievements and also thank him for his services in previous management positions,” Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, said in a release.

He added that Jung’s successor, Winfried Vahland, has outstanding experience in managing companies and brands. “Winfried Vahland has been instrumental in making China Volkswagen’s second largest market,” added Winterkorn.