Recently installed Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Müller has made more sweeping changes in the company’s upper ranks. Ousted VW Group R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg will be replaced by Ulrich Eichhorn, while Group design chief Walter de’Silva will give way to Porsche chief designer Michael Mauer. (Hackenberg also served as Audi’s R&D chief; that role was given to Stefan Knirsch earlier this month.)
Both executives are well-known within the VW Group. Eichhorn, however, began his industry career at Ford, where he eventually had responsibility for chassis engineering and global vehicle dynamics. He headed VW Group Research from 2000 to 2003 and then moved to become R&D chief at Bentley. In Crewe, he put the final touches on the original Continental GT and was in charge of derivatives like the GTC and Flying Spur as well as the Azure and Brooklands models, the Mulsanne, and the second-generation Continental GT.
VW Group CEO Matthias Müller has overseen a shake-up within the executive ranks since taking the helm.
Eichhorn, a “petrolhead” whose first car was a BMW 2002, is not just a thorough engineer, he also is politically savvy: He left Bentley in late 2011 to become managing director at Germany’s powerful manufacturer’s association, VDA. His responsibilities there included technology, safety, quality, and vintage cars. At VW, he will oversee global R&D and push for further evolutions of the modular-platform strate...