GM Defector Told to Cool It

J. Ignacio Lopez de Arriortua, Volkswagen’s new head of purchasing and production, “is under contract not to speak with the media for the first 100 days” of employment with the German auto maker, the company said.

Lopez, 52, defected to Volkswagen last month after flip-flopping on his decision to remain with General Motors’ North American operations. He officially joined Volkswagen’s board on March 16.

Earlier this month, GM’s Opel subsidiary in Germany won an order instructing VW and Lopez to stop their “massive head-hunting” campaign at Opel.

Opel Chairman David Herman has also called on Lopez to state in writing that he won’t use any proprietary information from GM in his new job as production chief at Volkswagen.

Volkswagen said it has done nothing illegal.

A high court in Frankfurt, Germany, said Lopez will be fined $312,500 or imprisoned for up to six months if he ignores an injunction forbidding him from luring executives away from GM.