Automotive News South Africa

VW announces new MD

David Powels, managing director of Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA), has been appointed as president of Volkswagen do Brasil. He will be succeeded by Thomas Schäfer, currently head of Group Production (Foreign Plants).
Thomas Scha¨fer to succeed David Powels as MD of VWSA
Thomas Scha¨fer to succeed David Powels as MD of VWSA

Powels, a chartered accountant, joined VWSA in 1989 in the Finance Division and it was not long before he made his mark and he became export manager. He returned to the Finance Division in 1993 to head the Controlling Division, followed by a foreign assignment in finance at both Volkswagen AG and Audi AG.

He returned to South Africa in 1998 as finance director, a post he held for four years before becoming vice president Finance and Corporate Strategy at Volkswagen do Brasil in 2002. In 2007, he returned to South Africa as managing director.

Schäfer, an engineer, has been working for the Volkswagen since 2012. He started his working career at Mercedes Benz AG in 1994. He moved to East London in 1998 in a management role at Mercedes Benz South Africa. In 2002 he moved to Malaysia as the plant manager and remained there for Mercedes till 2005 when he returned to Germany responsible for the planning of their production plants.

The appointments are effective from February 2015.

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