BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) has picked former BMW manager Hinrich Woebcken to run the North American business of its core brand, sources said, as the carmaker faces growing criticism of its handling of the emissions scandal in the United States.
Four months after the diesel emissions scandal broke, there is no timetable for winning approval of a fix for about 500,000 affected U.S. cars, or for lifting the government's ban on the sale of 2016 VW diesel models.
The Volkswagen brand has long been struggling in the U.S. where its failure to develop new models quickly and a lack of crossover vehicles has left it a niche player behind rivals such as General Motors (N:GM), Hyundai and Toyota.
Germany's Manager Magazin earlier on Tuesday cited unnamed sources as saying Woebcken would probably take up his position at VW's largest division by sales and revenue in April and become a member of the VW brand's management board.
Woebcken last year quit Germany's Knorr-Bremse Group, a manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles, where he held a position on the executive board for 15 months.
VW declined to comment on the reports.
Last September, the carmaker picked group veteran Winfried Vahland, previously head of Czech brand Skoda, as new head for the region as it pushed a policy to cede more power from its German headquarters to regional and car brand divisions.
But Vahland, who had previously been seen as a possible candidate for the VW group CEO post, quit three weeks later, which a source said at the time was because his new position failed to win him a role on the group's executive board.