Status: 06.12.2021 6:26 p.m.
In the struggle for the future of VW boss Herbert Diess, a solution is on the horizon. As reported by several media outlets, the Austrian should continue to run the group, but surrender powers.
After weeks of speculation about Herbert Diess remaining at the helm of Volkswagen, there are increasing signs that the 63-year-old may continue to run the group. According to information from the “Handelsblatt” and the Reuters news agency, which cite insiders, the controversial CEO should keep his post at the top of Europe’s largest car company; however, its power is limited.
“It goes in the direction that the dispute is settled and Diess remains CEO,” said a person with knowledge of the deliberations to Reuters. The solution found in lengthy negotiations provides for VW brand boss Ralf Brandstätter to rise to the group’s executive board. This should concentrate on strategic issues of corporate management.
Brandstätter and Döss join the board
A second person said: “The pendulum is clearly leaning so that this remains.” With the rise of Brandstätter, Diess was losing influence on the operational business, it was said in corporate circles. The “Handelsblatt” reports that in addition to Brandstätter, Manfred Döss will also be promoted to the Volkswagen Board of Management. The chief lawyer should take over the integrity and law department from the outgoing Hiltrud Werner. The 63-year-old Döss is a close confidante of the Porsche / Piëch family of entrepreneurs. You trust him to exert a positive influence on Diess.
This should be “fenced in” Diess to prevent him from panicking the group again with uncoordinated statements – true to the motto: “Trust is good, control is better”. Neither Volkswagen nor Porsche SE, over which the Porsche and Piech families hold the majority of voting rights in the Wolfsburg-based car maker, commented. The works council also declined to comment.
Decisive board meeting on Thursday
Supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch had previously mediated in countless conversations between the fronts. The dispute broke out at the end of September when business games by Diess for a possible reduction of 30,000 jobs at the main plant in Wolfsburg became known. The works council saw this as a massive breach of trust. The state of Lower Saxony, which has a 20 percent stake in Volkswagen, was also appalled. Its Prime Minister Stephan Weil, who is also a member of the VW supervisory board, called the CEO’s behavior “stylistically”.
It was only in July that the owners extended Diess’ contract for the third time and confirmed his course of accelerating the transformation into a technology provider modeled on the US electric car manufacturer Tesla.
From corporate circles, it was also said that Pötsch had pressed for an agreement in Personnel Diess before the decisive meeting of the supervisory board this Thursday. Then the supervisory body should approve the investment planning for the next five years.