Volkswagen announced last Thursday that, effective February 1, David Geanacopoulos is no longer its chief counsel in the United States. He was replaced by David Detweiler, an attorney from the law firm Clifford Chance.
The Wall Street Journal reported that before his replacement, Geanacopoulos was both chief U.S. counsel and head of public affairs. Geanacopoulos will now focus on government relations as senior executive vice president for public affairs and public policy. Detweiler was designated as executive vice president and general counsel at Volkswagen of America Group. Previous to his appointment as VW's chief U.S. counsel Detweiler worked in Clifford Chance's offices in Frankfurt, Germany and was a key advisor to the German car maker. Detweiler is not the only top-level replacement in recent days.
The change comes as Volkswagen seeks approval from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) to recall around 580,000 diesel-fueled vehicles fitted with software that cheats emission level tests, reported Tech Times. While the company waits for approval from the EPA and CARB of its recall proposal, a bigger recall is ongoing in Europe. The sooner VW gets clearance, the sooner it can move on and start rebuilding its reputation which had been badly damaged by the emissions scandal. Tech Times also learned that VW's second-largest shareholder gave the company a three-month deadline in late January to come clean about the origins of its emissions scandal.
VW has submitted a plan to fix 80,000 Audi, Porsche and VW SUVs and larger cars to the California Air Resources Board earlier this month. Automotive News said that Volkswagon Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller met with some lawmakers in Washington in order to bolster ties with U.S. lawmakers and regulators. Mueller also met with EPA chief Gina McCarthy and U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
Last month, VW named Hinrich J. Woebcken as head of the North American region, which includes operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Woebcken was a former BMW AG executive, and his appointment will be effective come April 1, 2016.
