HERNDON, Va. -

Volkswagen Group of America elevated one of its executives at VW Credit on Monday to be president and chief executive officer of the captive finance company.

Taking on the role effective Jan. 1 is Horst Meima, who most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of VCI. Meima brings with him more than 20 years of experience within the company, including the roles of president and CEO of former Volkswagen Bank USA, vice president of sales and marketing and president and ceo of VW Credit Canada.

In this new role, the company indicated Meima will oversee all functions of VW Credit, the captive finance company which services Volkswagen, Audi and Ducati customers, authorized dealers and their affiliated stores as Volkswagen Credit and Audi Financial Services. He will also serve as chairman of the board for VW Credit Canada.

Meima holds an MBA degree from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colorado State University.

Meima succeeds Christian Dahlheim, who will take on the role of board member for Sales and Marketing of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, in Braunschweig, Germany, effective Jan. 1.