VW Hires Former Tesla Exec to Work on EVs

Volkswagen has named a new VP for North America. Matthew Renna joins the team helping to manage the North American Region-G4 team and will work on VW’s new electrified platform.

“Matt brings an outstanding combination of financial acumen, engineering depth and product program management– all within the electric vehicle space,” said Hinrich J. Woebcken, CEO of the VW North American Region. “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.”

Renna’s last position was with Tesla Motors, where he served as program manager for the Model S and Model X. He also worked on Tesla’s autonomous vehicle programs including autopilot. That will serve him well in a new role where he will help steer VW’s MEB electric platform. That will include product content, timing, and launches of Volkswagen’s electric platform for North America.

Since Volkswagen expects to have more EVs in production than just about any other automaker by 2022, and it has significantly more resources than Tesla to put into that production shift, the move is likely a wise one.

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