Diess resigns as CEO of Volkswagen - successor has already been determined

Created: 07/22/2022, 18:37

Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG, is resigning from his position effective September 1.

© Sven Hoppe/dpa

For a long time he had not only had friends in his top position: Herbert Diess, as VW boss, was particularly controversial with the powerful works council.

In a few weeks he should now get a successor.

Wolfsburg – Herbert Diess resigns as CEO of the Volkswagen Group.

The company surprisingly announced on Friday evening that the 63-year-old had agreed with the supervisory board to leave on September 1st.

Successor is to be Porsche boss Oliver Blume.

The decision was made "consensually", it said in Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen: Diess resigns as CEO – Porsche boss Blume takes over

"Dr.

Oliver Blume will take on the role of CEO and, at the same time, his role as CEO of Dr.

Ing. hc F. Porsche AG,” the group explained in a statement to the financial markets.

At a meeting, the inspectors also decided that VW CFO Arno Antlitz would support the previous Porsche driver Blume “in day-to-day operations”.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Hans Dieter Pötsch thanked Diess.

During his time as CEO of both the Volkswagen brand and the Group, he played a key role in driving forward the company's transformation.

Diess pushed the conversion of VW in e-mobility significantly.

However, there have recently been a number of problems, especially with the sluggish and increasingly expensive development of in-house software and IT systems.

This stops at VW: conflict with the works council - disagreements with the supervisory board

Blume had long been considered a possible successor to Diess.

His name had been mentioned several times behind the scenes when a conflict between the VW boss and the powerful works council over possible new austerity programs escalated last year.

Even before that, there had been violent differences of opinion with parts of the supervisory board about the further strategy and about a possible drastic job cut at Europe's largest car manufacturer