Karl-Thomas Neumann is rejoining Volkswagen AG as head of a new unit responsible for developing electric mobility. He takes up his new position next month as Group Chief Officer, reporting directly to VW's CEO Martin Winterkorn. The appointment was approved by the supervisory board. Neumann, 48, previously held positions at various VW electronics departments from 1999 until 2004 before leaving for Conti.

Volkswagen AG reported sales results for the month and year to date ended October 2009. For the period, the company delivered 557,300 cars last month, compared with 501,500 in October 2008. Volkswagen brand alone saw a 17% increase in October, delivering 349,800 cars up from 299,000 a year earlier. For the year to date, the company posted a 0.6% year-on-year improvement in deliveries. The number of cars delivered rose to 5.32 million from 5.29 million in the first 10 months of 2008.

Volkswagen AG is currently building a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where it will produce a larger version of the VW Passat for the US customers from 2011.