VW ousts CEO, replacing Diess with Porsche boss

Volkswagen AG abruptly ousted Herbert Diess, its chief executive officer and architect of the auto industry’s biggest electrification effort, after repeated clashes with labor unions chipped away at his support with key stakeholders.

Porsche boss Oliver Blume will succeed Diess within weeks, ending a four-year tenure in which his hardnosed leadership style caused constant friction and undermined his effectiveness. Missteps on key projects including delays at VW’s software unit also contributed to the shake-up, people familiar with the matter said.

VW’s board is betting Blume will be a more collaborative and stable leader, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. He’ll remain the head of Porsche, which VW is trying to list late this year in what could be one of Europe’s biggestever initial public offerings.

Diess, 63, becomes the latest in a long line of leaders undone by VW’s complex hodgepodge of power centers. Skirmishes between the manufacturer’s controlling shareholder family, trade union and the German state of Lower Saxony that holds a significant stake have undermined performance and ended careers.

Blume, 54, has been viewed as a potential successor to Diess for some time, though any changeover was seen as years away. VW’s board extended Diess’s contract around this time last year to 2025. a seagoing landing platform in the Pacific Ocean. It was the stage’s fourth flight.

The launch occurred 24 hours after an initial attempt was scrubbed seconds before liftoff when the flight computer detected a problem with the position of a valve in one of the rocket’s engines, according to the SpaceX launch webcast.