A spy affair is causing the world’s largest car maker Volkswagen for restlessness. Apparently systematically and over a long period of time, a stranger recorded the conversations of an internal working group. Details have now been made public. The online business magazine “Business Insider” writes about 50 hours of audio recordings from 2017 and 2018 published extracts at the weekend.
In 2018 VW wanted to put an end to the hauntings and cut the connections to the companies of the Bosnian Hastor family. But the anger keeps the Wolfsburgers on their toes. And not just because of the numerous lawsuits that the two arguments are still fighting.
Until the relationship was terminated, the working group called “Project 1” dealt with how VW should deal with the disputed supplier. According to official information, the VW internal team had the task of “averting further damage to the company, its customers, employees and suppliers. There were open discussions about all possible solutions, but many were rejected.”
VW is looking for the mole, no ad has been received yet
It was not a decision-making body. Responsible for the team were the then group purchasing manager Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz (63) and the procurement director of the Volkswagen brand, Ralf Brandstätter (51). Brandstätter has now become CEO of the core brand VW passenger cars.
Ultimately, Prevent was “phased out” as a supplier, as the company jargon says. In other words: Prevent no longer received any new orders, the contractual relationship was terminated.
The big search at Volkswagen is now underway: Who secretly recorded the conversations for what reasons? If internal and confidential meetings were documented and “such information is passed on to the public without authorization, we are deeply shocked. The case will of course be investigated,” it said on Sunday from Wolfsburg.
A Prevent spokesman said the company had no knowledge of the recordings. “Since the actions of VW Prevent have deliberately damaged, we are currently examining legal steps against Volkswagen ourselves,” said the spokesman for the supplier group on Monday. At the public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig, however, no complaint has been received regarding the spy affair.
“According to media reports, there are violations of antitrust law, possible stock-insider transactions, false statements to the authorities and courts, and unacceptable dealings with many suppliers in the room. This should call the responsible authorities on the scene,” said Prevent.
In addition, “Business Insider” quoted statements from the recordings, according to which VW could have discussed with Daimler and BMW about how one Takeover of the headrest and center console manufacturer Grammer could be prevented by the Hastor family controlling the Prevent. Volkswagen and Daimler have denied agreements, BMW does not want to comment on alleged internal talks at VW.
The background could be numerous legal proceedings
From a legal point of view, such an arrangement would have been rather delicate because it could have undermined free competition. The Hastors’ takeover efforts ultimately failed due to resistance from the Grammer management.
The background to the spy incident at VW could be the many open legal proceedings that the group and Prevent are fighting in court. Prevent has filed a lawsuit in the United States and wants $ 750 million in damages, because VW is said to have put pressure on suppliers to reject Hastors’ takeover opportunities. VW in turn wants that Claim damage from the delivery freeze in 2016 and put the order of magnitude at more than 100 million euros. According to Prevent, a good ten cases are currently pending before German courts alone. Also Prevent is arguing with Daimlerand wants compensation from the Swabians – there are no longer any supply relationships here either.
The reason for spying remained unclear at first. The group audit in Wolfsburg must now check. It will probably be difficult to find evidence of possible wrongdoing after several years.