Durheimer to Head Bentley Unit

Volkswagen AG has named Wolfgang Durheimer to take over as chairman and CEO of its Bentley and Bugatti luxury car units on June 1. He also will join VW Group committees responsible for the U.S. and China markets.

Durheimer will succeed Wolfgang Schreiber, who is moving to a position elsewhere within the VW Group after two years leading Bentley and Bugatti. Both men hold degrees in engineering.

Durheimer is a past executive at BMW and Porsche. He became CEO of Bentley and Bugatti in 2011 and was appointed to Audi's board as head of research a year later. He will step down from the latter position in June.

Bentley sales soared 19% last year to 10,100 cars, and profit climbed two-thirds to €168 million. The unit's volume in January-March 2014 rose 17%.