Well, seeing how one is titled the "Chief Engineer" I wouldn't be too surprised that he represents an entire department (or many) and is the last stop before board of directors.
To me, having been in the auto industry as a peon, Chief Engineer sounds like a person with a Junior Middle Manager pay level without officially having any direct reports.
That's odd, I work in an auto company, our chief engineer is the head of all engieering, he reports to the GM, who reports to the board of directors.
Another odd thing though, is that VW apparently puts their compliance responsibilities under engineering management. Our compliance department, which I work in, is an independent department. That has its own difficulties with being less integrated with development, but we don't have any competing goals.
