“It’s a fresh thing, we’ll see what it brings,” Martin Jahn, a member of the Škoda Auto board of directors, responded to Schäfer’s departure from the domestic carmaker. He did not want to answer the question of whether he could succeed Schäfer.
Schäfer should leave Škoda in July next year. As the chairman of the Škoda trade unions, Jaroslav Povšík, told ČTK, as his successor, he would not let anyone into the company’s management who would go against the interests of Škoda Auto and be a weak boss.
Raiffeisenbank chief economist Helena Horská assumes that the departure of the head of Škoda Auto to a higher position within the group is not necessarily bad news for the domestic carmaker. “The success of Škoda Auto allows its managers to go to the headquarters in Wolfsburg. This can be an advantage for the Czechia. They can become a kind of patron of the Czech Republic in Germany and negotiate advantages for the Czechia, “he says.
Higher investment in electromobility
Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chairman of the Group’s Supervisory Board, confirmed, among other things, that Volkswagen will invest more in electromobility. The share of this area in total investments will increase from 50 percent to 56 percent. By 2026, Volkswagen will invest around 159 billion euros.
According to Zdeněk Petzl, CEO of the Automotive Industry Association, the changes and noticeable nervousness in Volkswagen demonstrate the strength of the pressure under which the entire automotive industry finds itself. “At the VW Group, this is just more visible than elsewhere, but a similar process is taking place in all suppliers – the transition to a green agreement and carbon-neutral production. It is not certain that the same number of jobs will be secured as before, “said Petzl. While some plants will have to reduce the number of employees, others will create new jobs.
During the press conference, the head of the Volkswagen Group’s corporate council, Daniella Cavallo, said that changes in the group would inevitably affect employees. According to her, however, it should be primarily a matter of some professions that will disappear in the future, but on the contrary, employees with new qualifications will be needed.
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It is precisely because of these issues that the head of the Volkswagen Group was threatened with dismissal for many weeks. Diess spoke openly about the need for the VW Group to save, including through large-scale redundancies. Now, however, after lengthy negotiations, there has been a consensus between the unions, the federal state of Lower Saxony, which holds a significant stake in the group, and the main shareholders of the Porsche and Piëch. Diess can stay.
German races will be key
According to Pötsch, it was unfortunate that the debate about the future of Diesse and the direction of the group took place in public, which could have confused investors. “I would like to apologize to the capital markets for that,” said the head of the supervisory board. According to Diesse, Volkswagen is going through the biggest changes in its history.
Diess announced that the importance of the group’s production plant in Hanover, where the production of several electric models will be concentrated, will grow. The production of electric cars will also be strengthened at the headquarters in Wolfsburg, where the Volkswagen ID.3 will be produced from 2024. Both cities are located in the federal state of Lower Saxony, which has a stake in the group. More electric cars will also be produced in Leipzig. Diess also emphasized the importance of the ongoing construction of a battery factory in Salzgitter.
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The head of the group also mentioned the role of the plants in Brussels and the Iberian Peninsula in the transformation of the group primarily into a manufacturer of electric cars. He did not talk about the Group’s Czech plants in this connection.
According to Horská, a manager coming to Wolfsburg from Škoda Auto could do just that, if he lobbies for the transfer of at least part of the production of batteries or electric cars in the concern to the Czech Republic. “The Czech Republic will have to fight for this type of production, which will obviously have the upper hand. Managers who have passed Škoda Auto and headed to Germany can better appreciate the possibilities and potential of Škoda Auto and not look at the Czechia through their fingers. It can help get progressive production, “she said.
Unfulfilled Chinese ambitions
According to earlier information from the magazine, Stephan Wöllenstein, the current head of the group’s Chinese activities, is to be Automobile week appointed to a new, as yet unspecified position. Representatives of the group did not provide further information.
The Chinese market is extremely important for Volkswagen, with about forty percent of sales going there. However, the group’s ambitions were much higher, and Volkswagen ID electric cars, for example, are failing in the largest car market, either due to competition from Tesla or local carmakers.
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