Scandal-hit Volkswagen hires Opel exec as strategy chief

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: 07:40 pm Oct 26, 2015

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2015, file photo, a brand sign of the Volkswagen car company is seen at the car factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. More than a decade ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency helped develop a technology that ultimately allowed an independent laboratory to catch Volkswagenu0092s elaborate cheating on car emissions tests. But EPA did not apply that technology on its own tests of diesel passenger cars and instead focused on trucks,thus missing its best chance to foil the German carmakeru0092s deception as early as 2007. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

FRANKFURT: Volkswagen AG is hiring a top strategy executive from competitor Opel as it seeks to recover from a scandal over its cheating on US diesel emissions tests. Taking on Thomas Sedran as Volkswagen's new chief of corporate strategy brings another outside voice to the company as it re-examines its culture in the wake of the scandal. The move announced Monday by the automaker based in Wolfsburg, Germany, comes on top of the company's decision to hire Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, a former judge who oversaw legal compliance at competitor Daimler AG in the wake of a bribery scandal there. Sedran is a former managing director for turnaround firm Alix Partners. He joined General Motors' Opel division as head of strategy and operations in 2012.

Business

Scandal-hit Volkswagen hires Opel exec as strategy chief