VW

Herbert Diess will leave Volkswagen Group at the end of this year

Herbert Diess will go down in the history of the world's second largest automaker as the initiator of serious reforms, since he ran Volkswagen three years ago, when the company was hit by the so-called "dieselgate". With a focus on electrification and automated driving, Diess is now at risk of not seeing the fruits of his efforts as he steps down as CEO from September 1.

As Reuters explains, Herbert Diess's resignation from this position will take place prematurely, three years before the contractual term and by mutual agreement of the parties. Many will remember him for his open admiration for Elon Musk and Tesla. In 2015, before Diess was hired by Volkswagen, Elon Musk offered him to lead Tesla. In his activities as head of Volkswagen, Herbert Diess was guided more by the interests of the company's shareholders than by the unions, therefore, even before taking over as CEO, he managed to lay off 30,000 Volkswagen employees.

The first warning signs for Diess came in May of this year, when Volkswagen's management expressed dissatisfaction with the level of efficiency of Cariad's software division. Since Diess took over as CEO, Volkswagen shares have not risen in price, and since the beginning of this year, they have fallen by 24%. Investors were wary of Napoleon's plans announced by Diess, including a goal to turn Volkswagen into the world's biggest electric car maker by 2025 at the latest.

It is reported that the first of September as Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess will be replaced by current Porsche boss Oliver Blume. It is believed that the latter adheres to a more traditional strategy in the development of the automaker, without exaggerating the ambitions, whose implementation requires large investments. Herbert Diess worked at Robert Bosch before joining Volkswagen in 2015 and at BMW he worked for fifteen years. Oliver Blume's inauguration as CEO of Volkswagen will not relieve him of his responsibilities at Porsche.

Herbert Diess posted a farewell message from his former role on one of the social networks, noting the emergence of strategic agreements with TSMC and STMicroelectronics in the area of ​​supply and development of semiconductor components at the automaker. The outgoing CEO expressed hope that the chip shortage will begin to ease in the second half of the year. Judging by Diss' comments, the German auto giant will not refuse a public offering of Porsche shares.

Autonews