Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess will step down from September 1, the automaker announced on Friday (22), after a four-year term that led the group to accelerate the process of electrification amid clashes with the board of directors and unions.
Diess will be succeeded by Oliver Blume, Porsche’s chief executive, who will continue in charge of the luxury car brand as he carries out his new responsibilities.
Blume has worked at the VW group for his entire career, joining the company in 1994 on an international trainee program at Audi.
He has been a member of Porsche’s board of directors since 2015. “My focus will be on the customer, brands and products,” the executive said in a statement.
Diess’s future at Volkswagen was in doubt on multiple occasions during his tenure as chief executive.
The most recent clash was with the company’s powerful German union over electrification plans and the executive’s management style.
Diess will step down three years ahead of his contract deadline of 2025. The executive’s departure comes at a time when Volkswagen is trying to overtake US-based Tesla as the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker.
A native of the German region of Bavaria, Diess left BMW to join Volkswagen in July 2015, months before the outbreak of the scandal in which Volkswagen was caught evading pollutant emissions tests in the United States.
Diess promoted a cost-cutting program across the group and brought new vehicles to market faster.
He also accelerated the company’s electrification strategy to try to outdo Elon Musk, whom he often referred to as an effective chief executive.
Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Cox Automotive, said the turmoil around Diess may have become a distraction at VW.
“This shouldn’t come as a surprise because his time at Volkswagen was turbulent and controversial,” said the analyst.
Bernd Pischetsrieder, chief executive of Volkswagen from 2002 to 2006, and Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the VW brand from 2005 to 2007, were forced to step down after repeated clashes with VW’s German union.
Source: CNN Brasil
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