Volkswagen has announced Klaus Zellmer as board member and placed its first green bonds with a volume of €2 billion.
Formerly president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Zellmer is now board member for sales, marketing and after sales at VW’s passenger car brand, replacing Jürgen Stackmann who has left the group.
He has worked at Porsche for the previous 23 years, holding managerial roles in Germany, France and North America.
Stackmann has been with the VW Group for the previous 10 years at Skoda, VW passenger cars and Seat, prior to which he held various roles at Ford.
“Jürgen Stackmann has steered sales through challenging times with great commitment and competence over the last five years,” said Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen passenger cars, “at the same time, he has prepared his division for the major transformation issues facing our industry.
“Klaus Zellmer has more than 20 years’ experience in sales and a deep understanding of the international automobile industry.”
Elsewhere, the company’s inaugural green bonds have respective terms of eight and 12 years and annual interest rates of 0.875% and 1.25%.
The company said proceeds would be used to fund its modular electric drive matrix – a platform developed specifically for electric vehicles – and its ID.3 and ID.4 plug-in cars.
“With the issuance of our first green bonds, we are giving investors the opportunity to make sustainable investments in the future of e-mobility,” said Frank Witter, member of the group board of management responsible for finance and IT, “it is a strategic milestone in our financing strategy, which we combine with our corporate target of CO2 neutrality in 2050.”
