Sedran
Embattled VW hired Thomas Sedran as Head of Group Strategy, the company said today in a statement. If the name rings a bell: While working for Alix Partnetrs, Sedran was the one who convinced Steve Girsky, and the whole board of GM, that it was a good idea not to get rid of Opel, something the company regretted many times. Sedran and Girksy were the dispatched to Europe to make their plan work. Opel is still bleeding money.
When Opel went through a number of interim-CEOs in quick succession, Sedran held the top job for a short while. As the last man standing, he received a battlefield-promotion. When he was replaced by Karl-Thomas Neumann in 2013, Sedran was disposed of to lead Chevrolet Europe, and we know how that ended. And now, he is at Volkswagen.
How did my contact at the company say?
“Managers untainted by the scandal have a clear shot at top positions. The trouble is finding the untainted.”
