Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) has appointed Matthew Renna as Vice President, Volkswagen North American Region (NAR)-G4, effective 16 April 2018. Renna will manage the NAR-G4 team, steering objectives for the Modular Electrification Toolkit (MEB) line, Volkswagen’s modular system for manufacturing electric vehicles. Renna most recently served as program manager for Model S and Model X at Tesla Motors.

Volkswagen introduced the Volkswagen North American Region (NAR) in 2016; NAR operates under a board structure responsible for aligning all regional activities of the brand throughout Canada, Mexico and the United States, including sales and marketing, product development, procurement, human resources, quality, communication, IT and production.

The NAR structure includes an organizational matrix of four product lines that work in cross functional collaboration with the functional departments in the area of vehicle development. This matrix mirrors the same structure that is in place at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Three of these product lines are represented with their own managers in the NAR. The G4 product line is responsible for e-mobility and includes the e-Golf and Modular Electrification Toolkit (MEB) line of vehicles.

Renna’s responsibilities will include product content, costs, financial results, timing, quality, launch, and risk management throughout the entire MEB product line life cycles.

Matt brings an outstanding combination of financial acumen, engineering depth and product program management—all within the electric vehicle space. His experience and leadership will be a tremendous asset as we strengthen our electric vehicle position in North America and we are excited to welcome him to Volkswagen.

—Hinrich J. Woebcken, CEO of the VW North American Region

Renna personally led key product improvements on the autopilot & autonomous vehicle programs at Tesla and was instrumental in identifying, solving, and achieving critical financial targets. Renna has also held technical, engineering, and leadership responsibilities at Porsche Motorsport North America and Honda Performance Development.

Renna succeeds Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, who has left the organization to pursue other career opportunities.