Seemingly surprising changes at the highest levels of the management of the Volkswagen concern and the car companies associated with it are not exactly an exception. Nevertheless, the way in which the CEO of the entire concern, Herbert Diess, ended is not exactly usual.
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According to the website Automotive News Europe, which refers to the Bloomberg agency, the actors started planning him behind his back – at a time when he was on a business trip in the USA. And everything was rather rushed.
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The Porsche-Piëch family clan, which holds the majority of shares in the Volkswagen Group as well as a number of positions on its supervisory board, has always stood behind Diess. This helped Diess overcome a series of disagreements with union representatives, who also have a strong presence on the supervisory board.
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Recently, however, support has waned. On the weekend of July 16 and 17, debates were to begin in the eight-member board of the supervisory board on whether it would be a good time to replace Diess while he is in the US.
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The important day was supposed to be Wednesday, July 20 – that’s when the decision was allegedly made across the supervisory board that Diess had to go. And also that a suitable successor will be Oliver Blume, who has led the Porsche brand since 2015.
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According to the server, the supervisory board communicated its decision to Diess on July 21, just hours after he returned from the United States. She gave him 24 hours to respond, and he, after consulting with lawyers, agreed to step down at the end of August and hand over the position to Blume.
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However, he is not leaving completely and probably not in a bad way – he will remain an advisor for the Volkswagen concern, writes the DPA agency with reference to unnamed sources. Diess had an employment contract until autumn 2025 and will remain with the company until its end, according to sources. He will continue to receive a salary.
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Diess joined the VW Group in the summer of 2015 as head of the Volkswagen brand. The then CEO of the concern, Martin Winterkorn, gave him the task of saving 5 billion euros a year within two years. It was under his leadership, in September 2015, that the emission scandal of the VW concern broke out in the USA, which later entered history as Dieselgate.
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In December last year, Volkswagen changed the board of directors. Diess then lost part of his responsibility, but he was put in charge of managing the Cariad software division. However, problems within it postponed the launch of the new, electric generation of the Porsche Macan.
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Diess often clashed with Volkswagen’s union leaders, who hold half the votes on the supervisory board. According to the website Automotive News Europe, however, it seems that the dissatisfaction of the Porsche and Piëch families with the results of Diess’s multibillion-dollar investments in software and electric cars spoke more strongly for his end.
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