Volkswagen poaches new executive board member from rival BMW

BERLIN - Volkswagen Group has poached a senior manager from BMW to bolster its own C-suite, the Wolfsburg-based company announced on Tuesday.

Markus Duesmann is set to leave his current post as head of procurement at rival German carmaker BMW to join the Volkswagen executive board. Michael Brendel, the spokesperson for the Volkswagen supervisory board confirmed to press that Duesmann had been offered the job.

Brendel emphasized that no decision had been made yet as to which department the new recruit would oversee at Volkswagen. Nevertheless, the news prompted widespread speculation in German media that Duesmann was hired as a replacement for the imprisoned Audi chief executive officer (CEO) Rupert Stadler.

Stadler's arrest marked the first time that a member of the management board of a German carmaker was taken into police custody in the diesel emissions scandal. The 55-year-old and another unnamed senior manager at the Volkswagen subsidiary are suspected of committing offenses of criminal fraud and "indirect false certification" in the marketing of diesel vehicles which were fitted with defeat devices to understate their actual Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions.

Nevertheless, Volkswagen has hesitated to fire Stadler prior to a conclusion of judicial proceedings against him and has only suspended the jailed CEO for now. In the meanwhile, he has been temporarily replaced in his role by Bram Schot.

Speaking to the newspaper "Financial Times" on Tuesday, Volkswagen executive board member Hiltrud Werner warned against abruptly sacking Stadler in response to his arrest. "I can only talk for myself, (but) if someone is humiliated in this way, I think there is no need for a supervisory board to humiliate him further", Werner said. Stadler's contract is regularly scheduled to expire in 2020.

Prior to joining the Volkswagen board, Duesmann spent 11 years at BMW which he first joined as a mechanical engineer from Daimler. Amongst others, Duesmann was recently tasked with developing a battery component supply-chain for BMW's upcoming series of electric vehicles.