Herbert Diess, chairman of the Volkswagen Group and CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, has been accelerating the implementation of electrification in recent years. However, a vote of no confidence targeted at Diess is currently underway at the board meeting.
Volkswagen is one of the most active traditional auto manufacturers implementing electrification, and the primary dynamics come from its chairman and CEO Herbert Diess, who has not only publicly praised Tesla and Elon Musk, but is also seeing through the transformation process for the centennial manufacturer himself.
However, the latest news are saying that the Volkswagen board of directors are currently conducting a no-confidence vote towards Diess, and have begun discussing new candidates for CEO and the chairman of the board of directors.
As pointed out by German media, the out-of-the-blue backstabbing is likely to have been done by the General and Group Works Council of Volkswagen Group, who scoffs at Diess’s praises of Tesla, and despises how the former has been threatening them about job cuts if they do not transition towards electrification.
Diess pointed out during the discussion with Germany’s auto workers’ committee last month that the entire German auto industry has been trailing far behind competitors in terms of the transformation in electrification. According to Diess, “30,000 jobs could be lost with a slow transition to EVs.”
As adamantly pointed out by Daniela Cavallo, chairman of the General and Group Works Council of Volkswagen Group, Diess is threatening the workers with unemployment, and has no sympathy towards the supply issue of chips. Cavallo added that the core of the company’s decision-making should be the first to undergo transformation if transformation is what the company desires.
Under the pressure of the General and Group Works Council of Volkswagen Group, the Volkswagen board of directors are seemingly preparing to get rid of Diess. It is worth mentioning that the board of directors had just vigorously praised Diess’s electrification strategies less than a year ago, and expressed full support towards the development. Unfortunately, business is business, and what happens in soap operas could happen in real life too.
Diess was scheduled to travel to the US today, but the abrupt development in his company has forced him to cancel the trip and return to HQ. “I’m being frequently asked why I keep comparing us with Tesla. I know this is annoying to some. Even if I no longer talk about Elon Musk, he will still be there and revolutionizes our industry and keeps getting more competitive quickly,” commented Diess.
As for the possible loss of jobs for 30,000 workers, Diess said that his priority is whether his children and grandchildren are able to find a decent job in Wolfsburg (Volkswagen HQ).
This tempest in a teapot is expected to yield new development this weekend at the earliest, which sort of reminds every one of the Chinese poem Musk tweeted the other day. Has he received any exclusive news in advance?
(Cover photo source: Volkswagen Group)