Oct 14, 2015, 11:36am ET

VW's incoming North America chief quickly resigns

Former Skoda chairman Winfried Vahland left due to \'different views\' on VW\'s restructuring efforts.

Volkswagen's incoming head of North American operations, Winfried Vahland, has already resigned after spending just three weeks preparing for his new role.

The executive has spent 25 years at VW Group, most recently as chairman of the Skoda brand. Amid the emissions scandal and consequent leadership shakeup and corporate reorganization, he had been appointed to lead the newly-combined USA, Mexico and Canada (NAR) operations.

VW's US chief, Michael Horn, has kept his position despite the emissions trouble first identified by the Environmental Protection Agency. He would have reported to Vahland.

"Differing views on the organization of the new Group region have led to this decision," the company said in a statement. "This decision is expressly not related to current events on the issue of diesel engines."

The company has not yet named another executive to head its North American unit.