Thomas Sedran to become CEO of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand

Dr. Thomas Sedran, General Secretary and Senior Vice President Group Strategy at Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, has been appointed CEO of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand effective September 1, 2018. In this function, he takes over from Dr. Eckhard Scholz, who is stepping down at his own request. Thomas Sedran’s successor will be announced at a later date.

Dr. Thomas Sedran holds a Ph.D. in economics and worked as a management consultant from 1988 to 2012, for example holding responsibility on a global level for the Automotive Competence Center at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants until 2006. He then became managing director of the automotive industry section at management consultant AlixPartners in Munich. Sedran became the member of the Management Board of Adam Opel AG in charge of strategy and operations and interim CEO in 2012, and assumed responsibility for the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands in Europe as President and Managing Director in July 2013. Volkswagen appointed him Senior Vice President Group Strategy in 2015 and in addition, he was named General Secretary of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft in 2017.

Dr. Eckhard Scholz holds a Ph.D. in engineering and joined the Volkswagen Group in 1991. He held various senior management positions in Technical Development at the Volkswagen brand in Wolfsburg from 1996 to 2007, latterly as head of car body development. Scholz was appointed as the member of the Board of Directors of ŠKODA responsible for Technical Development in April 2007. Scholz moved to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as Speaker of the Brand Board of Management and board member for Technical Development in September 2012. He was appointed CEO of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand effective July 2014.

The CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Dr. Herbert Diess, paid tribute to his work: “The Group Board of Management wishes to express its special thanks to Eckhard Scholz for his achievements. He has led the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand very successfully, and at the same time many outstanding models from the ŠKODA brand also bear the signature of the former Board Member for Technical Development Eckhard Scholz.”