Hoff needs to "bring home the bacon" in terms of German financing of an Opel reorganization.
Opel CEO Nick Reilly today named a new member to Opel management. Effective February 1, Volker Hoff has been appointed Vice President, Government Affairs, for Opel.
In this capacity, Hoff will report to Reilly and succeed Tayce Wakefield who is retiring from the company.
GM at the beginning of this year transferred to Opel another €650 million (~$930 million) in cash by prepaying its loss-making subsidiary for upcoming engineering services.
The money is needed to keep Opel afloat while GM continues its quest for European government financing to restructure Opel/Vauxhall. At least 8,300 jobs will be cut, and an assembly plant in Antwerp, Belgium closed, as part of a broad restructuring.
GM has previously said that it will take as much as $4.8 billion to reorganize Opel. European state governments are considering requests for help at a pace that is best described as leisurely.
Enter Hoff, who has been a Member of the Parliament of the German federal state of Hesse since 1991, which not coincidentally is the home of Opel’s main plant in Russelsheim. Between 2006 and 2009, he was a State Minister of the Hesse administration. He has also been managing partner of various consultancies and a member of the advisory council of a major Government Relations agency.
“I’m very pleased that the Opel leadership team is further strengthened by an experienced professional such as Volker Hoff,” said Reilly.
“Volker Hoff is a high-profile political figurehead who has closely followed Opel from his positions in the Hesse government and parliament. We’re glad to have him on board,” he added.