BARCELONA (Reuters) -The chairman and chief executive of Volkswagen’s Spanish unit SEAT, Wayne Griffiths, is stepping down as SEAT prepares to start producing fully electric vehicles in Spain, the German carmaker said on Monday.
The decision came at Griffiths’ request and it is effective on Monday, Volkswagen said in a statement.
Markus Haupt, Seat’s Board Member for Production and Logistics, will temporarily take over the management of the company and a successor will be announced at a later date, it added.
Griffiths was also leading Seat’s sister up-market brand Cupra.
Asked at a press conference earlier this month about his future plans, Griffiths said he was committed to remaining in SEAT for the foreseeable future.
His departure was first reported by Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
(Reporting by Joan Faus, writing by Andrei Khalip and Inti Landauro)
