GM’s Opel Appoints Former VW Manager Neumann as New Chief

General Motors Co.’s Opel unit appointed Karl-Thomas Neumann as its top executive, tasking the former Volkswagen AG manager with ending years of losses at the German subsidiary.

Neumann, 51, who was passed over in a management shuffle at VW last year after previously leading Chinese operations, will take the position on March 1, Ruesselsheim-based Opel said in a statement today. GM had been seeking to fill the post since ousting Karl-Friedrich Stracke in July. Neumann will also take the position of GM Europe president and become a member of GM’s Executive Committee.