Volkswagen Group of America’s new chief executive, a veteran of General Motors and Ford, is a good pick to help grow the German company’s brands in the United States, an auto analyst says.
The selection of Jonathan Browning, who is British but lived in the U.S. on two occasions, also is telling because VW didn’t pick a German for the post, said Edmunds.com analyst Jeannine Fallon.
“It’s a statement about where their priorities are – the fact they didn’t pick a German,” she said.
Browning, who holds a master’s degree from Duke University, said at a news conference Monday in Washington, D.C., that he wants to improve several areas of VW’s U.S. business, including customer satisfaction, its dealer network and used car operations.
VW GOALVolkswagen wants to sell 800,000 VW brand models and 200,000 Audis in the U.S. by 2018.