Herbert Diess ousted as VW boss

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rikimaru
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Post by rikimaru »

Well, there it is. If there’s any sign about how out of touch VW are, it’s got to be this.

Volkswagen’s chief executive Herbert Diess, the architect of the German carmaker’s multibillion-euro push into electric vehicles, will leave the company within weeks after being forced out by union leaders and shareholders.

The 63-year-old, who took over in the years following the VW emissions scandal, will be replaced by Porsche chief executive and former VW manager Oliver Blume from the start of September. His departure follows a vote by VW’s supervisory board, which is controlled by a loose alliance of workers’ representatives and the state of Lower Saxony, the company’s second-largest shareholder.
https://www.ft.com/content/f73ee239-8c2 ... 78c646506b
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OB1CCFC
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Post by OB1CCFC »

I assume his decisions to create a failing software organisational structure and contracts at huge cost was a significant part of this. Not to mention launching a clearly unready ID range which continued damaging the VW brand after dieselgate.
Let’s hope for better now.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

Some perspective please?

Diess currently remains the chief executive of VAG, this is only a change of leadership at a single brand (VW) within VAG.

VW have however canned Stefan Sommer, VW’s components and logistics exec hired in 2018. It’s quite clear to even the dumbest onlooker that there has been a massive, extended and ongoing component logistics foul up and COVID excuses aren’t cutting it any more.

CARIAD clearly is still going to be helmed ultimately by Diess, so I don’t expect anything to actually change there, unfortunately.
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cornbutter
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Post by cornbutter »

Utumno wrote: Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:54 pm VW have however canned Stefan Sommer, VW’s components and logistics exec hired in 2018. It’s quite clear to even the dumbest onlooker that there has been a massive, extended and ongoing component logistics foul up and COVID excuses aren’t cutting it any more.
I think this is fair and definitely overdue at this point. Was this mentioned in the article rikimaru mentioned? I got paywalled by FT so I can't read it.
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rikimaru
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Post by rikimaru »

Utumno wrote: Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:54 pm Some perspective please?

Diess currently remains the chief executive of VAG, this is only a change of leadership at a single brand (VW) within VAG.

VW have however canned Stefan Sommer, VW’s components and logistics exec hired in 2018. It’s quite clear to even the dumbest onlooker that there has been a massive, extended and ongoing component logistics foul up and COVID excuses aren’t cutting it any more.

CARIAD clearly is still going to be helmed ultimately by Diess, so I don’t expect anything to actually change there, unfortunately.
Eh? Where are you getting all of this?

The articles I’ve read have only mentioned that he is resigning and leaving the company. Even VW’s own press release states he’s leaving VAG to be replaced by Blume.
16 Sep: ID3 Max in Moonstone Grey. BW 40 confirmed. ETA early Dec.
...lots of bad info and delays...
27 April: at port. ETA end of May.
Delivery ETA: 18 May!
OB1CCFC
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Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2022 10:38 am

Post by OB1CCFC »

rikimaru wrote: Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:25 pm
Utumno wrote: Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:54 pm Some perspective please?

Diess currently remains the chief executive of VAG, this is only a change of leadership at a single brand (VW) within VAG.

VW have however canned Stefan Sommer, VW’s components and logistics exec hired in 2018. It’s quite clear to even the dumbest onlooker that there has been a massive, extended and ongoing component logistics foul up and COVID excuses aren’t cutting it any more.

CARIAD clearly is still going to be helmed ultimately by Diess, so I don’t expect anything to actually change there, unfortunately.
Eh? Where are you getting all of this?

The articles I’ve read have only mentioned that he is resigning and leaving the company. Even VW’s own press release states he’s leaving VAG to be replaced by Blume.
Rikimaru, you are correct. I’m not sure where Utumno is getting that view from. Diess has clearly been removed.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos- ... 022-07-22/
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Dbaron
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Post by Dbaron »

Shame. He's the one who's been fighting for EVs for software driven cars. He's the one who has said it takes 30 hours to make an Id.3 compared to Telsa's 10 hours on the model 3. He's the one to admit VW need to improve. He's the one who is scraping MEB in light of a new EV platform as he knows MEB isn't good enough.

If it wasn't for him VW wouldn't be be as far on the EV journey as they are.

He's not popular among the traditional VW brigade that don't want change. One of the things the traditionalists don't like is his communication skills. Ie. They don't like him saying VW need to improve in public.
cornbutter
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Post by cornbutter »

From that article that OB1CCFC linked...

In 2019, Diess appeared to allude to a Nazi-era slogan when he attempted to describe the carmaker's earnings potential by saying "EBIT macht Frei." He later apologized for the comments and explained he in no way wanted to draw a comparison to the Nazi-era slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei," which appeared on the gates of Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

Jesus wept. How could he not be drawing a comparison there.

To be honest, I'm not entirely disappointed that they're going to be focusing less on software. I'd be happier for them to just rely more with Android Auto and Apple Car play. They both do better than what the VW onboard software do.

I don't think this spells the end of VWs electric push, I suspect it'll just mean less ambitious timelines and less comparisons to Tesla. Not necessarily the worst thing as I'm not a fan of their ways of working or their approach to misleading consumers on FSD.
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