VW delegates low-cost car development for India

WHEN Volkswagen (VW) boss Matthias Müller vowed to reform the car maker after its emissions scandal, decentralising power from its Wolfsburg headquarters in Germany was a top priority.

That commitment is now being put to the test in one of the company’s most important international projects: building a lowcost car for India.

Müller said in March he was giving the job to the group’s Czech brand Skoda, which is now leading partnership talks with India’s Tata Motors. Skoda has been authorised to take “incremental” decisions, while keeping Wolfsburg informed, a source said.

The move, the first major international project led by Skoda since VW took full control of it in 2000, is a sign of how the different divisions and regions within the 12-brand VW empire are gaining influence, the source added.

Müller’s nine-member management team has also started to hold regular meetings outside of its northern German home, with the first one abroad held in Shanghai in April.

Sharing out power is important, because many people both inside and outside VW believe the company’s traditional authoritarian management structure created the environment that led to engineers installing illegal software to cheat diesel emissions tests in millions of cars worldwide. – Reuters