Thomas Schmall (50), currently President and CEO of Volkswagen do Brasil, has been appointed member of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management responsible for Components. Schmall succeeds Prof. Dr. Werner Neubauer (65), who is taking retirement and who will continue to serve the Group in an advisory capacity. The new President and CEO of Volkswagen do Brasil is David Powels (52), currently Managing Director of Volkswagen of South Africa. He will be succeeded by Thomas Schäfer (44), currently Head of Group Overseas Manufacturing at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. All of these changes are effective January 1, 2015.
The Chairman of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, highlighted Neubauer’s achievements for the Volkswagen Group: “It is thanks to Werner Neubauer’s outstanding commitment that Components is today a versatile, innovative and competitive supplier of key parts – thus making a sustained contribution to Volkswagen’s economic success. Our company and its home region are something very special to him. That affinity was his inspiration for driving forward with securing the future, exploring new technologies and strengthening the partnership with science in the interest of Volkswagen and the people in the region.”
Thomas Schmall is a business studies graduate and joined the Volkswagen Group in 1991. Following posts in industrial engineering in Wolfsburg he moved to Volkswagen do Brasil in 1999, becoming manager of the Curitiba plant in 2000. He joined Volkswagen Slovakia as Board member for Engineering in 2003, becoming Chairman of Volkswagen Slovakia in 2005. Schmall was appointed President and CEO of Volkswagen do Brasil in 2007.
Dr. Werner Neubauer is a qualified tool-maker and also holds a doctorate in engineering. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 1965, assuming management responsibilities in production from 1972. His posts included head of overseas production for the Africa region, head of the central overseas production department, head of logistics at the Volkswagen brand, member of the managing body of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles responsible for product manufacturing from 1996, manager of the Wolfsburg plant from 1999, General Representative responsible for Group production from 2004. In 2006, he was named General Representative for Group components, also assuming responsibility as member of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management responsible for Components from 2007.
David Powels qualified as a chartered accountant and also obtained a professional qualification from the British Institute of Cost and Management Accountants. In 1989, he began his career at Volkswagen of South Africa as a tax accountant in the finance division. Following posts in Group finance and controlling and finance controlling at Audi in Germany, he became Finance Director at Volkswagen of South Africa in 1998. He moved to Volkswagen do Brasil as Vice President Finance and Corporate Strategy in 2002. He was appointed Managing Director of Volkswagen of South Africa in 2007.
Thomas Schäfer holds a degree in engineering and joined the Volkswagen Group in 2012. He began his career in 1991 at Daimler AG. He held various positions in production and quality assurance from 1998, initially in South Africa, subsequently becoming Vice President of Production Plants in Malaysia in 2002, and assuming responsibility for overseas production and planning operations in 2005, before moving to the Volkswagen Group to take charge of Group Overseas Manufacturing.