Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. ©Volkswagen AG

Asian Tech Press (Dec 10) -- German automaker Volkswagen AG has announced the appointment of Ralf Brandstätter, currently CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, to head the company's business in China from August 2022.

Volkswagen's supervisory board announced executive changes on Thursday, with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess staying on, but with a reduced remit, as he will have primary responsibility for the company's automotive software division CARIAD. Diess had been asked to step down due to disagreements with labor representatives.

Ralf Brandstätter, head of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, joins the Group Board of Management and will take over responsibility for the "China" division from Aug. 1, 2022. And the CEO of Volkswagen Group China, Stephan Wöllenstein, who will step down in 2022, will take up his new position.

Thomas Schäfer, the CEO of Škoda Auto a.s., will take over as head of the the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand from April 2022.

Meanwhile, the supervisory board approved further investments, including a new research and development center in Wolfsburg, where Volkswagen was founded. And the company is expected to spend 159 billion euros to update the its plants across Europe to supply and build electric vehicles.