Volkswagen announces by surprise the dismissal of Herbert Diess as CEO

Surprise relay in front of the Volkswagen dome.

The German automotive giant announced this Friday that its CEO, Herbert Diess, will cease in that position as of September 1.

His position will be occupied by Oliver Blume, current director of Porsche (one of the group's brands).

Arno Antlitz, current CFO, will take over as COO.

Diess's abrupt departure marks the culmination of the clashes that the top executive has had with the German manufacturer's powerful unions and other key interest groups in the company.

The background to that fight was the firm's strategy review and cost cuts.

Volkswagen plans to take its most valued brand, Porsche, to the stock market with the aim of obtaining liquidity to finance the investments in electrification and computer equipment of its vehicles that it must undertake.

Diess, 63, was hired in 2015 from rival group BMW.

Shortly after, Volkswagen would admit to souping up millions of diesel vehicles to pass emissions tests, the so-called

scandal .

His resume also includes having been, surely, the executive in the sector that has most aggressively promoted electrification, which earned him praise from Elon Musk, founder of Tesla.

Blume, 54, has been in the pools for some time in the succession of Diess, although his options seemed to lose strength when the latter's contract was extended until 2025. His beginnings in the automobile group refer to Audi, although he later went through other brands of the manufacturer, such as the Spanish Seat or Volkswagen itself, before being appointed head of production at Porsche in 2013. He successfully contained the damage for Porsche in the

, despite the fact that the brand had also received engines manufactured by Audi that They did not meet emissions regulations.