Volkswagen goes outside for new Powertrain boss

Volkswagen has tried to put even more distance between itself and its Dieselgate emissions scandal by looking outside for a new head of powertrain development.

Instead of promoting an engineer from within the hundreds of thousands it has on its payroll, it has turned to former senior Daimler engineer, Kurt Blumenroeder, to lead powertrain development for the core Volkswagen brand.

He will begin the role on January 1, succeeding the respected Friedrich Eichler, the one-time AMG engine boss whose petrol-power focus left him a Dieselgate cleanskin. Eichler will become the brand’s head of chassis development.

Blumenroeder is currently the Chairman of IAV, a German automotive engineering concern, which is half owned by Volkswagen.

Volkswagen had a generation of senior powertrain developers either suspended or tainted by their proximity to the decisions leading to, and perpetuating, the Dieselgate cheat that saw 11 million cars recalled around the world.

They include the Group’s former chief engineer, Wolfgang Hatz, who remains in custody in Munich, and fired Audi diesel engineer Giovanni Pamio, who was released on bail last week on charges of fraud and false advertising.

By the time Dieselgate’s gestation began, Eichler had already left the Volkswagen Group and was running AMG’s powertrain division. The last engine fully developed there under his command was the world’s most powerful four-cylinder engine, the 2.0-litre turbo unit fitted to the A 45 AMG. He returned to Volkswagen in 2013 to head up development for its petrol-powered engines.

Blumenroeder, on the other hand, started at Daimler in 1990 and rose to head its technology division, then joined IAV in 2005.