Volkswagen of America Names Stefan Jacoby as CEO

With sales of the Volkswagen brand flat in the U.S. this year, the German automaker has decided to reshuffle its top management here.

VW said Stefan Jacoby, 49, a troubleshooter who has headed global marketing and sales for the VW group, will become president and CEO of Volkswagen of America on September 1. "The objective is to achieve further significant expansion in the position of Volkswagen and Audi on the U.S. market through attractive and competitive products," the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Jacoby succeeds Frank Witter, 48, who is moving to Volkswagen Credit, where he will become co-president, sharing the post with Kevin Kelly, 60.

Jacoby is a former CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Europe. He is executive vice president for global marketing and sales for the Volkswagen Group.

Audi has been poised to smash last year's U.S. sales record of more than 90,000 units. But VW lost $827 million in North America last year.