Oliver Blume at the Geneva Motor Show
The Porsche boss makes the return pearl of the VW Group shine even brighter.
It was a sign of appreciation: applauded in January Wolfgang Porsche, as Oliver flower in his speech at the beginning of the 70-year-old PorscheAnniversary on the top floor of the company museum the myth of the brand and the family character of the company implored.
Now the head of the Porsche-Clans the Porsche boss even more. The 49-year-old flower moves – in addition to his job at Sports car manufacturer in Zuffenhausen – in the VWCorporation Board on. In the future, Blume will be in the focus of Porsche heirs more often: The families Porsche / Piech are major shareholders the largest European car manufacturer.
The executive board restructuring, which the VW supervisory board decided in the course of the week, brings a new dynamic in the board anyway: exciting, as Oliver Blume copes with the new CEO Herbert Diess.
Because the 1.90 meters large flower, an ex-footballer, is a complete counter-proposal to Diess: The new VW boss has enforced with cool hardness his move to the CEO post. Even a public exchange such as the dispute with works council chief Bernd Osterloh on the austerity program at VW Diess has never shied.
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In contrast, Blume stands for a completely different style of leadership. The 49-year-old is not a polter, but when he comes into the room, it’s hard to miss. And he says in interviews phrases like these: “The focus is on the human being. The latter is a philosophy that I personally stand for. “With good processes and technologies nothing can be achieved if you do not have the right people for them.
Blume is a real team player, but not a buddy. It’s not played with him. If he is criticized, then because many a companion fears that he lacks the last quantum hardness. But you should not be fooled by the outside. Blume is a brilliant strategist and decision maker. In his first big interview as production manager of Porsche he already had “a clear roadmap in the Porsche strategy”.
As his predecessor Matthias Müller moved to Wolfsburg, he was able to implement his strategy for the sports car manufacturer. Nearly 240,000 Porsche cars sold last year and a record turnover of 22.3 billion euros speak for Blume.
And even more important: Blume increased its operating result disproportionately by 14 percent to 3.9 billion euros. In his term of office alone, the return on sales increased from 15.8 to 17.4 percent. The yield pearl of the VW Group – at the same time probably the most profitable carmaker in the world – made Blume shine even brighter.
Well prepared, he is also on the VW Group Board. Because no one, not even Diess, knows how to flower every single one of the more than 100 Volkswagen plants in the world from the inside.
This uses this cleverly and gives Blume the corporate responsibility for the production. The handling of the two is called professional in the company, especially in strategic matters. Buddies are not both. For that flower is not the type. Blume also kept a professional distance to Müller.
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His diplomatic skills took advantage of Blume in the diesel crisis. Because despite the major problems with the diesel Cayenne, which had to be taken off the market, the image damage for Porsche was limited. Blume took the responsibility for the errors in the engine control, but the main pressure he could sent to the engine supplier Audi derive without pointing directly to the sister company.
He also has a good relationship with the Porsche family. The contact has also grown because Blume in the past five years, especially Wolfgang Porsche saw more frequently than many VW managers in Wolfsburg. Blume took advantage of these opportunities to stand before the eyes of the family.
Born in Brunswick, he studied mechanical engineering in his hometown and later did his doctorate in Shanghai. He first went through stations in the VW group Audi and Seat. In 2009 he took over the production planning in the VW headquarters. Hence the knowledge of all VW works. In 2013 he moved to Zuffenhausen as production manager. He has been managing the company since the end of 2015. The powerful works council leader Uwe Hück appreciates Blume very much: “A man who does what he says.” Even at Volkswagen, the employees know exactly what to expect with flower.
The manager benefits from his calm manner. He can take people. But flower does not only increase because of its social competence. Meriten has earned the 49-year-old by the smooth construction of the production of the small off-road vehicle Macan in Leipzig, the sales records and the expansion of the main site Zuffenhausen and the entry into the electric mobility.
And for the Porsche image also not unimportant: It managed the feat of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans and thus the most difficult car race in the world three times in a row. He will also need Fortune and skill in Wolfsburg, especially when dealing with Herbert Diess. And one day even the last quantum hardness.