Stefan Jacoby, the head of Volkswagen AG’s North American operations, is going to work for a Chinese car company at an awkward time for VW.
Jacoby, 52, has been tapped to run Volvo Cars when Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. completes the acquisition of the Swedish carmaker later in the summer, sources familiar with the situation said Thursday.
But the appointment has not been finalized, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jacoby was unavailable for comment, but Volkswagen of America said VW was in contract talks with him and had assigned managers to take up his responsibilities in the interim.
Jacoby’s departure would be disruptive for Volkswagen, which has big sales and manufacturing projects under way in the United States, where it hopes to restore a significant presence.
The German automaker is building an assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., that will start making an all-new, midsize car for the American market in 2011. In addition, VW is launching an all-new Jetta compact, also developed and priced for the U.S. market, later this year.
“Until the contractual situation has been clarified, Michael Lohscheller will assume interim responsibility for Volkswagen Group of America, and Mark Barnes will assume interim responsibility for Volkswagen of America,” Volkswagen of America said in a statement. Volkswagen Group includes the Volkswagen and other brands.
Despite the bad timing for Volkswagen, analysts said one person’s departure would not derail its plans. “They’ve got a tremendous amount of momentum right now and a renewed commitment to the U.S. market,” said Michael Robinet, a Northville-based analyst at IHS Automotive, a forecasting group. “Jacoby was part of that, but not the sole owner of that initiative.”
Jacoby spent most of his career at Volkswagen but left in 2001 to take a job as president of Amsterdam-based Mitsubishi Motors Europe before returning to VW two-and-a-half years later.
His experience makes Jacoby an attractive candidate for a company like Zhejiang Geely that’s relatively new to the business. Jacoby is a top manager at a leading global automaker with a strong record in China, where Geely plans to start producing Volvos.
While at VW, Jacoby was responsible for the Asia-Pacific region from October 1997 until September 2001, and he was involved in the expansion of VW’s joint ventures in China. Jacoby also worked in Japan for Volkswagen.
“Given the level of investment and commitment that Geely is going to require to maintain Volvo’s position as a global nameplate, an executive with international capabilities is a must,” Robinet said.
Ford Motor Co., Volvo’s owner since 1999, struck a deal in March to sell the Gothenburg-based carmaker to Zhejiang Geely, the parent of Geely Auto. The sale is expected to close in August.
Ford veteran Stephen Odell is now CEO of Volvo. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which first reported Jacoby’s move, said Odell would run Ford of Europe. Ford had no comment.
