HAMBURG — Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess will keep on within the function, the corporate stated, ending weeks of uncertainty about his future because the automaker elevated spending on electrical automobiles to meet up with Tesla.
VW Group’s supervisory board offered its annual replace to the corporate’s five-year funding plan on Thursday, outlining investments of 159 billion euros ($180 billion), up from 150 billion euros final yr, and electrifying more of VW’s sites across Europe.
Spending for EVs will probably be raised by about 50 % to 52 billion euros, in contrast with final yr’s blueprint, VW stated. By 2026, a couple of quarter of all gross sales will probably be electrical solely, VW predicted.
“We have gotten a battery producer, a charging infrastructure supervisor, software program is taking part in a extra dominant function … we’re creating new enterprise actions with an unbelievable dimension for us,” Diess stated, including the corporate anticipated to generate 20 billion euros of income by 2030 from its battery division alone.
In a nod to employee representatives eager to maintain a robust energy base at dwelling, VW confirmed a plan so as to add a new electric car factory close to its international headquarters in Wolfsburg. The location will produce some 250,000 autos as a part of the Trinity undertaking.
VW additionally reorganized its top leadership.
VW model chief Ralf Brandstaetter will take over the group’s China business from Diess on Aug. 1. Skoda boss Thomas Schaefer will change into VW model CEO.
Diess will add duty for the corporate’s software program unit Cariad, taking cost of the unit from Audi CEO Markus Duesmann.
VW additionally elevated Hildegard Wortmann from its Audi unit as new head of global sales for the group.
Manfred Döss will take over the group’s Integrity and Authorized Affairs division from Hiltrud Werner on Feb. 1. Döss, a lawyer, has been head of the group’s authorized division since 2016 and steered the corporate by means of its authorized battles with U.S. authorities over its diesel emissions scandal.
Hauke Stars, former chief data officer of Deutsche Börse, would be the automaker’s new head of IT.
Diess stated the reorganization of the management crew will see the VW Group delegating administration of particular person automobile manufacturers to concentrate on these overarching enterprise areas.
Diess’s future had been doubtful following clashes with VW’s highly effective labor unions.
“We’ve made essential choices and located good solutions to make Volkswagen match for the longer term,” supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch stated in a press convention following the bulletins.
Diess acknowledged the troublesome discussions by referring to an “intense course of” within the run-up to right now’s unveiling. On the similar time, he stated he by no means misplaced the will to run the carmaker, calling the job “very near my coronary heart.”
Diess’ administration and communication fashion angered the carmaker’s works council, prompting weeks of negotiations over his future on the automaker. Diess had warned of tens of hundreds of attainable job losses in coming years and ceaselessly highlighting the specter of competitors from Tesla.
At a information convention on Thursday, works council head Daniela Cavallo stated it was proud of the end result of negotiations.
“I’ve no curiosity for us to have these conflicts in public,” Cavallo stated. “The conclusions of this planning spherical are clear: we have now a strong and strong plan we are able to all be pleased with.”
VW Group confirmed it anticipated its working margin to be on the higher finish of its 6 % to 7.5 % goal vary for 2021.
Bloomberg contributed to this report