Mitsubishi names Opel exec Wepierre as Europe chief

Mitsubishi has appointed former Opel executive Eric Wepierre to lead its European operations.  

Wepierre, 51, replaces Bernard Loire, who has moved to Maserati as the Italian automaker's chief commercial officer.

Wepierre, a French national, is a 30-year auto industry veteran. He worked for many years for Chevrolet's European operations, rising to the position of marketing and brand director before becoming head of Opel France in 2013.

He will take up the role on Feb.1 just as Mitsubishi has come in the firing line of German prosecutors investigating emissions-cheating among automakers.

Frankfurt prosecutors said on Tuesday that they are investigating Mitsubishi for suspected use of illegal defeat devices in diesel engines. As an importer Mitsubishi Europe was not involved in the development or production of the company's cars, a spokesman told Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive News Europe.

Mitsubishi sold 136,218 cars in Europe during the first 11 months of last year, up 4.4 percent on the year before, according to figures from JATO Dynamics.  

The company is heavily dependent on the plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander midsize SUV, with which it established an early lead in the plug-in sector across the region. Mitsubishi will reveal a replacement Outlander later this year based on the Nissan-Renault CMF platform.