New structure – 6 business units plus China, commercial vehicles ready for the stock market: VW makes Diess the CEO and bundles brands

04/12/2018

New structure – 6 business units plus China, commercial vehicles ready for the stock exchange VW makes Diess the CEO and bundles brands

New VW boss: Herbert Diess

Volkswagen initiates the biggest reorganization of its history. The Supervisory Board appointed VW brand leader Herbert Diess on Thursday at the top of the world’s largest carmaker. His predecessor Matthias Müller resigned by mutual agreement with immediate effect as CEO, told supervisory board chief Hans Dieter Pötsch after a meeting of the control committee, Müller remains in the company.

Müller had taken the wheel two and a half years ago from Martin Winterkorn, who had to resign because of the diesel affair. The twelve vehicle brands are bundled in three brand groups.

Overall, the Group is divided into six business segments and the China region. This should Volkswagen Show stock market chart become clearer and easier to control.

With the largest renovation in the 80-year history of the company, there is a change in the chairmanship. In addition to purchasing manager Francisco Garcia Sanz, who leaves the group at his own request, HR Director Karlheinz Blessing takes his hat.

Kilian replaces Blessing as HR Director, also Sanz goes

For him, the former Secretary General and confidant of Works Council Director Bernd Osterloh, Gunnar Kilian, joins the Board. Supervisory Board Chairman Pötsch thank you Müller. This took over the tax in the fall of 2015, when the group was facing the biggest challenge of its history by the exhaust gas fraud.

The twelve vehicle brands are divided into a volume group with VW at the top, a “premium” group with Audi and a “super-premium” group with Porsche. In addition, there is already the “Truck & Bus” group, in which Volkswagen has bundled its commercial vehicle business, which is to be listed on the stock market at a later date.

Further details were given by Volkswagen Show stock market chart not and referred to a planned for Friday in Wolfsburg press conference. There Diess wanted to explain his plans in more detail.

Much power for this

The new VW boss gets with the management of the volume group more direct influence on the operating business than Müller had. The power of the former BMW Manager at Volkswagen is comparable to that of Winterkorn, who, in addition to his role as CEO, also led the sales-strongest brand VW. Winterkorn’s predecessor Bernd Pischetsrieder, who once also came from BMW, had already developed so-called brand worlds at Volkswagen, but these were never implemented.

Stadler heads up future premium group, Blume moves into board

REUTERS

Oliver flower

The repeatedly acted as a launching candidate in the diesel scandal Audi CEO Rupert Stadler is not affected by the large chairs back. He heads the future premium group, as VW announced. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume becomes a full member of the Executive Board and head of the “Super Premium” group. According to insiders, it also includes the luxury brands Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini in addition to the sports car manufacturer Porsche.

To combine the two biggest profit-makers – Audi and Porsche – into one group would have been difficult, because neither of the two self-confident brands would have left the others to the lead. said a person familiar with the plans. The CEOs responsible for the brand groups assume additional management responsibilities within the Group. This should be relieved CEO Diess.

The advantage of smaller units: they are clearer and easier to market. For some time now, there has been a separate spin-off of the truck business with its own IPO or a holding structure in the debate.

Also read: Herbert Diess has these visions for the VW Group

Volkswagen had completed the last radical reconstruction in 2012. At that time, among other things, the Group had deepened the alliance of its commercial vehicle businesses, expanded its activities in China and recruited dozens of management positions – at VW itself, Audi, light commercial vehicles, Bentley and other areas.

Also read: How the Works Council Volkswagen co-governs

Also “Dieselgate” then increased the pressure to save costs. In 2015, a separation of Group and brand functions was initiated. The responsibility of the sales regions was also strengthened. So VW created its own market region North America, where the core brand drove behind the competition for a long time. Later Müller called out the “Strategy 2025” – one goal was the dismantling of centralism in the VW Reich. “It is now also possible to delegate things,” he said in 2016.

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