Bernd Osterloh, works council chairman of VW
“Matthias Müller has made a name for himself with Volkswagen. The respect of the employees is certain. “
Of the new VW CEO Herbert Diess has the full support of the works council in setting up a new structure in the world’s largest automotive group. In the influential works council chief Bernd Osterloh, it is particularly on agreement that Diess wants to give up the separation of group and brand leader.
“Because we are convinced that the operational management model of the Group can only be successful in the long term if the CEO also bears responsibility for the brand at the same time,” writes Osterloh in a letter to VWStaff present to the Handelsblatt.
The separation of the Group and Brand Director was a peculiarity from the time of the retired CEO Matthias Müller, Before that – under Martin Winterkorn and Ferdinand Piëch – the personal union for both posts was the standard in Wolfsburg.
VW in crisis: Herbert Diess already presents the first redesign plans – VW managers are on the run
The employee side had never been able to make friends with the Müller model. Especially many German employees work for the VW brand. Their interests are represented with the personal union up to the top of the group. For Bernd Osterloh, the fact that Herbert Diess will remain the head of the VW brand as the new CEO will be “no return to an old system”.
Current club events
Monday, 16.04.18, 19:30 Cologne: Stefan Weidner – The end of Western superiority?
Friday, 13.04.18 Dusseldorf: WHU – Digital at Scale Program
Friday, 13.04.18, 09:00 Stuttgart: Invest: Leading Trade Fair and Congress for Finance and Investment
Wednesday, 18.04.18, 17:30 Bielefeld: Investment Live
Wednesday, 18.04.18 Dresden: Next Drive Congress – AI in the focus of the automotive industry
Tuesday, 04/17/18, 4:45 pm Düsseldorf: Tomás Saraceno – in orbit
This should also prevent a new leadership model in the brand. “For the VW brand is being introduced by a deputy chairman, a so-called Chief Operating Officer (COO),” writes Osterloh.
The COO will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Volkswagen brand. As CEO, Diess thereby relieved a considerable amount. “This COO is now to be found in the coming weeks,” continues the employee letter from Osterloh.
The approval of the employees’ side also results in the decision that there will be four different brand groups in the Group in the future. Volkswagen belongs to the “volume group”, together with Skoda and Seat. Osterloh sees the advantage of this new brand group that development costs could be shared and new synergies sought.
It also simplifies the differentiation between the different brands. In the past it had to be the Czech daughter Skoda keep hearing that they are too wild in the area of Volkswagen.
]]>
Osterloh, who had pushed ahead with the replacement of Müller along with other influential members of the Supervisory Board, thanks the employee letter to the previous CEO for his work. Müller has driven forward digitalization in the Group and recognized the importance of e-mobility at an early stage.
“Matthias Müller has made a name for himself with Volkswagen. The respect of the employees is safe for him “, praises Osterloh the previous CEO.
The appointment of Herbert Diess as the new CEO has the full support of the works council. The dispute with Diess last year about the current VW austerity program (“Future Pact”) was just an episode. “At first we were not in line with key issues.” This circumstance had long been dispelled. Therefore, the works council is today believed to have “the right person on board” with Herbert Diess.
There are no resistance from the works council either a possible IPO of the truck division (“Truck & Bus”), which the Group plans for the coming year. The Supervisory Board had already approved the spin-off of the division on Thursday. From the point of view of Osterloh, the truck sector can become “more mobile and more professional” even after a possible subsequent IPO.
Intrigues, cliques, loss of confidence: How VW boss Müller failed at the Wolfsburg car Kratie
It is only important to the works council that the co-determination rights continue to apply to Truck & Bus even after a spin-off. Since the group has made corresponding assurances, there are no problems with it. “It has already been clearly agreed with the company that employees’ participation rights will be fully retained as well as existing collective agreements,” assures Osterloh of its workforce.
Of the outgoing CEO Matthias Müller has also addressed a letter to the VW workforce. “The Volkswagen Group is well positioned, the foundation has been laid. For the next phase of the transformation, I wish Herbert Diess, the Executive Board and the entire team every success and the necessary luck, “writes Müller.
Although his two years as a CEO were sometimes demanding and nerve-wracking, “it was finally a good time”. The diesel affair was the low blow. Afterwards, under his leadership, everything was done to “handle the biggest crisis in Volkswagen’s history” bit by bit.
Mueller draws a positive balance for himself: “We stabilized our operative business, continued to build great vehicles for our customers and wrote very good numbers.” Having participated in the transformation of the automotive industry with digitization and electrification “makes me grateful and proud” ,