Diess continues to focus on Volkswagen’s electric future by Reuters

By Jan Schwartz and Victoria Waldersee

HAMBURG (Reuters) – Volkswagen (DE 🙂 CEO Herbert Diess will continue to change his role slightly, the German carmaker said on Thursday, ending weeks of uncertainty about his future as he roughly raised spending on electric cars in a five-year plan. a half.

Rolf Brandstaetter, who took over from Diess as Volkswagen’s flagship brand last year, will take over the management and lead a new division called Volkswagen Passenger Cars from January 1, the company said in a statement.

Volkswagen will also take over China’s Diess business from August 1. However, Diess will be in charge of the company’s Cariad software unit.

“I can’t complain about the lack of responsibility; I still feel full responsibility for the company,” Diess said.

Diessen’s future was in jeopardy after clashes with powerful Volkswagen unions, though sources told Reuters earlier this week that it was likely.

Diessen’s management and communication style, warning of the potential loss of thousands of jobs in the coming years and frequently highlighting the threat of competition from Tesla (NASDAQ :), angered the carmaker’s board of directors and caused negotiations on the company’s future for weeks.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Daniela Cavallo, head of the company’s board, said she was pleased with the outcome of the negotiations.

“I have no interest in us making these conflicts public,” Cavallo said. “The implications of this round of planning are clear: we have a strong and compelling plan that we can all be proud of.”

The company’s supervisory board presented an annual update to the company’s five-year investment plan, outlining investments of 159 billion euros ($ 180 billion) – more than 150 billion euros last year – and bringing Volkswagen’s electrification across Europe.

Expenditure on electric vehicles will increase by around 50% to 52 billion euros compared to last year’s plan.

“We’re becoming a battery manufacturer, a charging infrastructure manager, software is playing a major role … we’re developing new business activities that are unbelievably large for us,” Diess said, and the company expects to generate $ 20 billion. Revenue for 2030 from its battery division alone.

Leadership reorganization The Volkswagen Group would delegate the management of individual car brands to focus on these key business areas, Diess said.

The automaker also confirmed that it expects its operating margin to be at the top of its 6-7.5% target range by 2021.

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