Filed under: Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Work, Specialty
Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson will be making a rather large charitable donation – 500,000 Euros ($668,000), according to Bloomberg. This is not, however, a move out of the goodness of his heart. It’s part of an agreement the exec made after a court case in Germany. Samuelsson spent nine years at truck manufacturer MAN, with his last four years as the boss. During his tenure, though, MAN was accused of illegal conduct, now understood to be bribes, in its Slovenian operations.
The agreement stems from a desire to avoid a lengthy trial for Volvo’s new CEO. As Samuelsson himself points out to Bloomberg, “I would have preferred to go through with the trial as I don’t have any doubt about my innocence. But this wouldn’t have been compatible with my role as Volvo CEO, and I want to leave Germany with passably positive impressions.”
It’s important to note that Samuelsson was not directly accused of bribery, unlike a certain elderly racing executive. Instead, the former head of MAN’s auditing department testified that Samuelsson was merely aware of “possible corrupt practices.” MAN as a whole was fined 150 million Euros in a 2009 inquiry, while several blue and white-collar workers were indicted, according to Bloomberg. Samuelsson will also pay 1.2 million Euros ($1.6 million) to MAN, which the company says will be “in recognition of his corporate-governance responsibility as the former CEO.”
Volvo CEO to shell out nearly $700k to settle MAN corruption investigation originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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According to Automotive News, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has his eye on a couple of overseas models for Buick. The General’s funky Opel Adam subcompact and Cascada four-place convertible are apparently on the executive’s wish list, as he openly expressed regret that they weren’t developed for the US during an investor conference earlier this month.
Despite only holding the reins of General Motors for the last four months of 2010, company CEO Dan Akerson received $2.5 million in compensation last year. Akerson took over the post from Ed Whitacre on Sept. 1, after Whitacre stepped down. According to The Detroit News, Akerson was paid $566,667 in salary from GM and a further $1.76 million in stock awards. Not bad for four months’ work.
Mitsubishi has announced that the automaker’s North American operations will now be helmed by Yoichi Yokozawa. The former vice president will replace Shinichi Kurihara as CEO on April 1 of this year. Kurihara is said to be returning to the Mitsubishi mothership at that time, though it’s unclear exactly what his duties will be once he returns to Japan.
Automotive News recently got the chance to sit down with Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller to go over the company’s plans for the future, and one of the juiciest tidbits to crop up from the interview came from a discussion on the possibility of a fully-electric Porsche. When asked about a battery-operated sports car, Mueller said that while some estimates say that 20 percent of all vehicles on the road will be electric by 2020, he believes that figure will likely sit closer to three to five percent. He finished up by saying “We are now almost over the initial hype before business really gets started.”
Hyundai Motor America President and CEO John Krafcik believes that some automakers are starting a price war, which would be an unwise move that focuses solely on short-term sales.
A federal jury has cleared Former Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg of the most serious allegations levied against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC had charged both Battenberg and former Delphi accountant Paul Free with a variety of offenses, the most severe of which were fraud charges associated with misrepresenting a $237 million payment to General Motors. On Thursday, the jury cleared Battenberg of four of the most severe charges, but found him guilty of failing to maintain accurate books or records and misleading his accountants.