Car manufacturer: VW boss Diess impressed: Now more movement in the conversion

Car maker
VW boss Diess impressed: Now more movement in the renovation

With his goal of breaking up “encrusted structures”, VW CEO Herbert Diess encountered considerable resistance in the works council – he now sees more speed in the transformation.

He was “certainly frustrated at one point or another,” said the CEO in an internal conversation about which employees could submit questions. But now he feels “very positively impressed by what is moving here now – which then makes me more satisfied again”.

This is receiving a lot of recognition in the automotive industry as a driver of the upheaval in the direction of e-mobility and digitization. For example, VW is planning a new plant for the Trinity electric model. Especially in the VW workforce representation, Diess has recently been offended again with considerations about possible further savings plans. Works council chief Daniela Cavallo sharply criticized him for spreading insecurity. You as well as Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD), IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann and VW supervisory board boss Hans Dieter Pötsch are currently discussing in a mediation committee how to proceed. There is still no result.

When asked whether he sometimes also resigned, Diess said: “Don’t resign, but be dissatisfied, even with your own performance.” Meanwhile, however, VW is “well on the way in the transformation” – in Europe as the market leader in e-cars, in the USA as number two behind Tesla.

“A lot has been started and on the way now. I think otherwise you wouldn’t have a chance in competition with Tesla, ”says Diess. After the recent works meeting, he would like to organize other events with Cavallo, “because we can only shape the change here – especially at the Wolfsburg location – together in a sensible way.” Initially, he had canceled participation in the staff meeting.

dpa