Volkswagen CFO to Step Down in June 2021 --2nd Update
February 20 2020 - 4:39PM
Dow Jones News
By Nina Trentmann and William Boston
BERLIN -- Volkswagen AG Chief Finance Officer Frank Witter
Thursday said he plans to step down at the end of June 2021 for
personal reasons.
"Because of my personal plans, the contract was prolonged for
nine months only until June 30, 2021," Mr. Witter said Thursday in
an email.
Mr. Witter, 60 years old, was appointed finance chief in October
2015. His current contract was set to expire in October. According
to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Witter rejected an offer to
extend his contract for another five years.
Mr. Witter became finance chief just weeks after Wolfsburg,
Germany-based Volkswagen was charged by U.S. authorities with
defrauding U.S. customers and the government by rigging
diesel-powered vehicles to cheat emissions tests.
He has stewarded Volkswagen's finances at a time when the
company, the world's largest automaker by sales, accrued more than
$30 billion in fines, penalties and compensation to consumers after
admitting to rigging nearly 11 million vehicles world-wide with
illegal emissions software.
"Mr. Witter took the CFO job at Volkswagen at probably one of
the worst possible times in the last 50 years, at the thick of the
diesel crisis," said José Asumendi, head of European autos equity
research at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. He brought stability to the
balance sheet and cash balance of the group at a critical time, Mr.
Asumendi said.
Mr. Witter agreed to a brief extension of his contract to give
Volkswagen more time to find a suitable replacement, according to
people familiar.
A Volkswagen spokesman said the company would not immediately
comment on contractual matters. The company will launch the search
for a successor soon, the spokesman said.
Mr. Witter said he still has lots to do in his current role as
CFO. "I won't be bored for sure," he said Thursday. He did not
elaborate further.
Mr. Witter will likely spend much of the rest of his time in the
role focused on resolving outstanding claims related to the
company's emissions cheating, analysts said.
"For the company, as well as capital markets, it would be good
to get this issue resolved," said Christian Ludwig, an analyst at
German bank Bankhaus Lampe.
Pricing Volkswagen's new electric fleet and developing financing
models for those vehicles would be another key objective for Mr.
Witter before he departs, Mr. Ludwig said.
The planned sale of the company's MAN Energy Solutions division,
which manufactures diesel engines for ships and power generators,
would also be high on the priority list, according to Mr.
Ludwig.
The news of Mr. Witter's planned departure was first reported by
Germany's business monthly Manager Magazin.
Write to Nina Trentmann at Nina.Trentmann@wsj.com and William
Boston at william.boston@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 20, 2020 16:24 ET (21:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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