Volkswagen Group mentioned it is going to reassign accountability for its China enterprise unit to VW model chief Ralf Brandstaetter.

The corporate veteran will take over the position on Aug. 1, 2022, VW mentioned in a press release on Thursday.

Skoda boss Thomas Schaefer will change into VW model CEO. Schaefer will familiarize himself with the VW model position from April 1 onwards as chief working officer forward of taking over the CEO position, VW mentioned.

Brandstaetter, 53, will transfer to Beijing for the brand new position, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Wednesday.

VW’s present China boss, Stephan Woellenstein, can be given a brand new as-yet unidentified position with the automaker, reviews mentioned final month.

China accounts for 40 p.c of VW Group’s quantity, however gross sales on this planet’s largest market are nicely beneath targets, with demand for VW’s ID full-electric fashions fashions a lot weaker than anticipated because of the microchip disaster and competitors from Tesla and native electrical manufacturers resembling Nio and Xpeng.

Schaefer, 51, joined VW from Daimler in 2012 and took cost of Skoda in 2020, shifting to the Czech model from South Africa the place he was CEO of native operations.