A new future for Osnabrück?
Major management reshuffle in Volkswagen's production
Volkswagen is refilling several key positions in the Brand Group Core. Among those affected are the sites in Osnabrück, Hanover and Poznań, as well as leadership roles in China, Mexico and Argentina.
Volkswagen is reorganising key leadership positions in production within its Brand Group Core. The changes affect several international sites, ranging from Osnabrück, Hanover and Poznań to China, Mexico and Argentina. At the centre of the personnel reshuffle are several plant management and technical managing director roles within the Group network. Automobilwoche was the first to report this.
One of the most important changes concerns Volkswagen Osnabrück. Stefanie Hegels, currently chief executive officer of Volkswagen Poznań, will move to Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH on 1 September as managing director for technology and spokesperson for the management board. She succeeds Christiane Engel, who is leaving the company after more than 34 years as part of a long-planned retirement arrangement.
Christian Vollmer, board member for production at the Volkswagen brand and responsible for production and logistics within the Brand Group Core, praised Engel as a defining leadership figure at the site. Since 2023, she has "significantly shaped" Osnabrück "with high professional expertise, clear leadership and great personal commitment".
Particularly against the backdrop of vehicle production coming to an end next year, she succeeded in providing employees with direction, ensuring reliable production processes and creating the conditions for the site's strategic further development.
With Hegels, an experienced manager with a strong logistics and production background takes over. Her Volkswagen career began in 1996 in Wolfsburg. After positions in Emden, Kaluga and various management roles within the Group, she was, among other things, in charge of logistics at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as well as the Crafter plant in Września. Since September 2023, she has been at the head of Volkswagen Poznań.
Speculation over the future of the Osnabrück plant
From an external perspective, this move does not necessarily look like a promotion: from CEO of all plants in a country to a site facing closure. Internally, however, Hegels is regarded as an extremely highly valued manager, who is now likely to be facing a completely new challenge. For some time now, rumours have been circulating about the future of the site - from a takeover by a Chinese OEM to the use of the halls for the defence industry. The extent to which Hegels already knows more here remains to be seen.
What is certain is that her move will trigger a whole series of further changes. There is also a change at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Hanover. Stefan Depka, currently head of the Foshan plant at the Chinese joint venture FAW-Volkswagen, will move to Hanover on 1 August and take on the role of plant manager there from 1 September. He succeeds Richard Slovak, who had only been in Hanover since the beginning of 2025. Slovak, in turn, will take over Hegels' current role on 1 September, namely the chairmanship of the board at Volkswagen Poznań and thus management of the plant there as well.
Vollmer points to Slovak's contribution to optimising factory costs at the Hanover plant. He is said to have initiated numerous measures and processes to increase efficiency. Volkswagen Poznań will benefit from his experience and strategic expertise. Vollmer, in turn, describes Depka as an internationally experienced production expert who is expected to further develop Hanover in a challenging market environment.
Implications also for plants in Mexico and Argentina
The reshuffle continues beyond Europe. Depka's previous position at FAW-Volkswagen in Foshan will be taken over by Thomas Hahlbohm, currently Board Member for Production and Logistics at Volkswagen de México. His successor in Mexico will be Gabriel Ozogany, currently plant manager in Pacheco, Argentina.
This means Volkswagen is moving several experienced production managers within its international manufacturing network. Hahlbohm brings many years of experience from Hanover, Poznań, Pacheco and Mexico. Ozogany, meanwhile, has been with the Volkswagen Group for almost 25 years and has held positions in production and logistics at Volkswagen Slovakia, in Puebla and most recently in Pacheco.
The reorganisation comes at a time when Volkswagen must continue to align its production structures with efficiency, site prospects and international competitiveness. As early as the end of 2025, the Group announced that it intended to organise its global production more strongly into regional clusters in future. So far, however, only André Kleb has been confirmed as head of the plants on the Iberian Peninsula . Further personnel changes are therefore likely to follow in the near future.
