The board of directors of the Volkswagen Group will decide this week whether it will stand behind CEO Herbert Diess. Diess has asked for a contract extension, especially now that his policy is being criticized.
Herbert Diess leads the Volkswagen Group through one of the most challenging periods in its history. In the shadow of the diesel scandal, a major turnaround towards more electric mobility and digital services is underway. On one side there is still debris being cleared, on the other side money is flying over the counter. The current crisis is added to that. There is said to be growing unrest among employees, unions and shareholders because of the reforms that Diess is implementing to this end. That reports Automotive News. To make way for his policy, Diess has asked for an extension of his contract. This will end in 2023 for the time being.
Because Diess has asked for this, the board of directors must now meet. In addition to shareholding union leaders, this includes members of the Piëch and Porsche families and they must express whether they still have confidence in Diess. The Munich-born CEO is taking a great risk with this. If confidence is no longer there, his position will immediately become a lot more uncertain. That while he still has a contract for the time being. If confidence is expressed, that is of course good news for him and he can probably continue for much longer. Diess obviously hopes for the second and recently stated that he needs such a restored confidence in order to be able to carry out further intended reforms within Volkswagen.