Tag Archives: Oliver Blume

Volkswagen is sinking

After the CEO of VW Oliver Blume stated that Volkswagen plans to shut down some plants in Germany, for the first time, it shocked the workers of this German manufacturer. The plan also includes abolishing job guarantees that have been in place for more than 30 years to cut costs. In many ways this was a question of not if, but when.

For a long time, VW has been struggling with huge supply chain constraints and increasingly strong competition, primarily from Chinese companies such as BYD, which is destroying the competition with low costs and state subsidies. Also, Chinese companies produce superior EVs in particular. Volkswagen has the capacity to produce 14 million cars per year, and in 2023 they produced only 9 million cars.

The workers are against this plan of the company, but so are the minority shareholders in the VW group. The head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, said: “This calls into question VW itself, and thus the very essence of the group.” We will defend ourselves fiercely. As long as I’m on the council, VW won’t be closing plants!”

Oliver Blume stated that the VW Group is in a difficult situation and that it requires difficult decisions: “The European automotive industry is in a very challenging and serious situation. The economic environment is further difficult and new suppliers are pushing into Europe. In addition, Germany in particular lags further behind in terms of competitiveness. In such an environment, we as a company must be consistent.”

Also, in autumn wage talks are kicking off, but what we might see at the end of the day is workers agreeing to zero or very little pay increases.

Source: Reuters

Porsche’s CEO is the new head of VW

One of the largest car manufacturers in the world will soon have a new CEO. The current CEO of the VW Group, Herbert Diess, will resign at the end of next month, and from September, the former CEO of Porsche, Oliver Blume, will take over.

The German company did not say why Diess resigned. He came to Volkswagen from BMW in 2015, at a time when the company was rocked by the Dieselgate affair. Diess is credited with ushering the company into a new era, encouraging major investment in electric vehicle production, with the goal of selling one million electric cars a year by the middle of this decade.

With the new CEO, the VW group will certainly not lose, what so ever, they will get someone who knows the situation in the company very well. Blume will become CEO in early September, and should be a long-term solution for VW. One of the first big challenges for him will be to find a potential investor, given that VW has previously established the framework for a potential initial public offering.

After joining the VW Group in the mid-90s, this will be Blume’s biggest challenge yet. In a statement to the media, he did not hide his enthusiasm for the new position. He said his focus will be on customers and products.

Source: VW Group