Volkswagen Group confirms major boardroom shake-up
AFTER VARIOUS RUMOURS of change to the Volkswagen Group’s corporate structure, the company has confirmed a major shake-up, with key figures getting new roles.
Herbert Diess will remain CEO of the group, despite reported internal disputes with unions. These ratcheted up recently after he was alleged to have suggested that as many as 30,000 jobs could be cut as part of the group’s electrification – which the company denied.
Diess has long been vocal about the need to adapt to competition in the arena of EVS, with rivals such as Tesla planning to build European production facilities.
Diess will take on more responsibility as part of his existing role, replacing Audi boss Markus Duesmann as head of the Cariad software arm in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen brand CEO Ralf Brandstätter will move to Volkswagen’s China division from 1 August. He will also join the board of the Volkswagen Group.
The Chinese market is important for Volkswagen, but sales have been heavily affected by the pandemic and parts supply issues. EVS have also sold significantly fewer units than expected.
Volkswagen’s business in China was previously led by Diess, who oversaw an 8% drop in sales of all group brands in the country, to a total of 2.8 million recorded to the end of October 2021.
Skoda CEO Thomas Schäfer will take over from Brandstätter on 1 April as COO of the Volkswagen brand. Schäfer, who has been at the helm of Skoda since only August 2020, previously led the group’s operations in South Africa.
Audi sales boss Hildegard Wortmann will also join the group board, as director of sales. She will focus on digital sales formats with an emphasis on direct customer contact across all brands.
She will begin her new job on 1 February, when financial markets expert Hauke Stars, a former board member of capital market firm Deutsche Börse, will join to head the group’s new IT department.