Volkswagen announced plans would trim its Board of Management as it combines two divisions.
VW plans to combine the New Mobility and Technical Development divisions as it works to improve its digital technology offerings. Volkswagen believes the recent changes will optimize its performance and reduce development times.
The New Mobility division will be integrated into the Technical Development division. The integration will bring all development activities for future technologies and vehicle architectures—including MEB and SSP—into the Technical Development Division. The newly integrated division will also lead the volume development for internal combustion engine models.
The German automaker’s Board of Management and division changes have led to some leadership reassignments. Kai Grünitz is now the Board Member for Technical Development, while Thomas Ulbrich has become the Head of Development in China. Grünitz and Ulbrich’s new roles will take effect by April 1, 2024.
“Going forward, Kai Grünitz will be in charge of both the “New Mobility” future topics and Technical Development. This is the right step at the right time. New digital technologies will thus become an even more integral part of our future-oriented vehicle development. At the same time, we are making an important contribution to the brand’s performance program with more efficient structures and leaner processes,” said Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand and Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Brand Group Core.
Ulbrich was the former head of New Mobility. While at the helm of the division, he helped develop a new software process for electric vehicles based on the MEB platform. The New Mobility process in software has already been transferred to Volkswagen’s new MQBevo platform—a module design construction. As such, the New Mobility division already accomplished its primary purpose.
“On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank Thomas Ulbrich for his tremendous commitment to the Volkswagen brand. He has been a driving force behind the development of our ID. electric range and put some truly pioneering work into software and digital networking and the associated processes.
“This work is now bearing fruit and will be transferred in full to Technical Development. I am delighted that our close ties will continue once he has taken up his new role in China and that he will be contributing his expertise to the development of the VW brand in the world’s largest automobile market,” added Schäfer.
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