An auto analyst says the timing’s not good for Volkswagen Group of America Chief Executive Stefan Jacoby to leave the car company, and she’s hopeful VW has a succession plan.
“It’s one of those cases in which the timing definitely could have been better,” said Jeannine Fallon of the auto website Edmunds.com.
But a pair of other analysts said they think a change will make little difference in the startup of VW’s Chattanooga plant early next year or in the effort to market and sell the car the factory will produce.
“He’s a valuable asset to Volkswagen, but VW is a large company,” said Erich Merkle of autoconomy.com. “I don’t see it having an impact on Chattanooga.”
Aaron Bragman, an analyst for IHS Automotive, said VW’s strategy in the United States is set in Germany.
“The plans in the U.S. are not coming from Jacoby,” he said. “I honestly don’t think there will be any disruption. I wouldn’t worry.”
Mr. Jacoby, 52, has headed VW Group of America since 2007, but German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Mr. Jacoby has been tapped to run Volvo for Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. when it completes its deal to buy Volvo from Ford Motor Co. later this summer.
VW officials have said the German automaker is in contract negotiations with Mr. Jacoby, but it has installed two people at its U.S. headquarters in Herndon, Va., to oversee operations in his place on a interim basis.
Mr. Jacoby couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
VW STRATEGY
Jill Bratina, vice president of group corporate communications for VW in the U.S., said the $1 billion Chattanooga plant and the automaker’s entire American strategy are moving forward “on pace and on target.”
Volkswagen Group of America deals with the sales and marketing of VW products in the U.S. The VW officials overseeing the building and equipping of the Chattanooga plant report to Germany.
Still, Ms. Fallon said change is hard.
VW LEADERS* Michael Lohscheller, who has been executive vice president and chief financial officer of Volkswagen Group of America since 2008, was chosen to head the group on an interim basis.* Mark Barnes, the group’s chief operating officer since 2007 and a former Chrysler executive, will be the interim head of Volkswagen of America.
“There’s never a good time. It’s always a difficult time to make a change at the top,” she said.
But there’s an opportunity for the automaker to “charge forward and achieve its goals,” she said.
Mr. Merkle said there are always carmakers searching for talent.
“There’s always going to be some shuffling around,” he said.
VW Group of America has set a long-term target of tripling sales and selling 1 million vehicles, including Audis, in the United States by 2018. It also aims to double its market share to 4 percent by 2012.
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