Enlarge image
VW boss Diess (archive picture): goes into extension
Photo: MATTHIAS RIETSCHEL / REUTERS
It was no secret that Herbert Diess would like to stay at the top of VW for a longer period of time - now he is getting his way: The manager is to remain CEO of Volkswagen until autumn 2025.
The group announced this on the evening after a supervisory board meeting.
Under Diess there are still "the best conditions for the continued successful development of the entire company," supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch is quoted as saying.
So far, Diess was appointed CEO of the largest European car manufacturer until spring 2023.
Formally, it is now a new contract that should run until October 2025.
The decision on the former head of BMW development, who initially moved to Volkswagen as head of the core brand in the summer of 2015, is likely to surprise many in the industry at the moment.
Last year there had been heated discussions about a possible early contract extension, which Diess is said to have called for itself, according to several insiders from the group environment.
Usually, negotiations on a continuation are not held until one year before the expiry, even in Wolfsburg.
Development center planned for 800 million euros
The agreement that has now been reached is regarded as the owner's commitment to Diess' course.
He is comprehensively converting the VW Group in the direction of e-mobility and digitization.
He will be 67 years old at the end of October 2025.
As part of the renovation, the group wants to invest a lot of money in a new development center at its headquarters in Wolfsburg.
Around 800 million euros could be invested in the "Campus Sandkamp", according to a letter to the workforce.
mic / dpa