Activists threw cake at the chairman of the supervisory board of Porsche Holding at the Volkswagen annual general meeting on his birthday.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Climate stickers prevented access, heckling interrupted the speeches in the hall, and there was heavy criticism of the supervisory board on the microphone: The annual general meeting of the car manufacturer Volkswagen in Berlin was disrupted by political activists on Wednesday like never before.
Even before the start of the event, there had been protests and attempts to disrupt the climate activists, who glued themselves to the access roads to the shareholders’ meeting. During the speech of the chairman of the supervisory board, Hans Dieter Pötsch, a protester threw a chocolate cake in the direction of the supervisory board member Wolfgang Porsche, Handelsblatt reporters observed. A banner held up by an activist read: “We can no longer afford Wolfgang.” Porsche just missed out on the cake.
The family patriarch celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday and is about to serve another term on the supervisory board of the VW Group. Porsche’s extension is considered controversial from a governance point of view. Actually, members of the supervisory board may only be elected up to the age of 75.
After a brief irritation on the podium, the event initially continued, but was repeatedly disrupted by actions as it progressed.
During the speech by CEO Oliver Blume, at least two demonstrators protested loudly against the company’s involvement in the Uyghur province of Xinjiang in western China. An activist removed her top and displayed a banner that read, “End Uyghur forced labor at VW.” The protesters chanted: “Destruction without end for your dividend”.
Volkswagen has long been criticized by environmental and human rights activists for its plant in Xinjiang. There are credible reports from the region about human rights violations and the targeted oppression of the Muslim Uyghur minority.
The activist was led out of the building by security forces.
(Photo: Lazar Backovic)
VW repeatedly states that there is no evidence of human rights violations in the factory. At the event, Legal Director Manfred Döss and Head of China Ralf Brandstätter emphasized that the company takes the observance of human rights “very seriously”. VW adheres to its values in the supply chains and does not tolerate any exceptions.
Protest actions have a certain tradition at general meetings. Recently, however, the disturbances during shareholder meetings have taken on a new quality. Climate activists had recently massively disrupted the general meeting of the energy company RWE and chained themselves in the room. VW has also repeatedly been the target of protests in recent years. However, the actions now have a new dimension that had not even existed during the heyday of the diesel exhaust scandal.
(Photo: Lazar Backovic)
After the disturbances, the head of the supervisory board, Pötsch, called for silence several times and asked those present to “behave appropriately” and to go to the microphone in the hall if they had something to say. He received applause from the shareholders present.
Even if the majority of those present did not appreciate the form of the protest, some activists showed understanding for the content of the protests in their speeches. Environmental, governance and human rights issues: The content of the allegations “from a young, angry side” hardly differed from the questions that representatives of large fund companies would ask, said Marc Liebscher, board member of the Protection Association of Capital Investors (SdK).
A company spokesman explained on request that a constructive exchange is important. A general meeting offers a good opportunity for this. “Except for a few, everyone adheres to the rules provided for this,” said the spokesman. Representatives of the climate movement “Fridays for Future” and the oppressed Muslim Uyghur minority also gave speeches on the stage.
The civil society protests come at a sensitive time for Volkswagen and push important strategic decisions that are currently being made in the group to the background. The Volkswagen Group is in the midst of the transformation to electromobility.
In the first quarter, the Wolfsburg company sold 141,000 battery vehicles, 42 percent more than in the same quarter of the previous year. With almost seven percent of the total deliveries being electric, the group is also ahead of its competitor Stellantis and about the same as Toyota. For the current year, VW is aiming for a value of around ten percent. By 2025, every fifth new vehicle in the Group should be purely electric.
This year, Europe’s largest car manufacturer wants to increase its sales by up to 15 percent and has to produce around a million more cars than in the previous year. In his speech, Blume elevated his strategy to a “mission” that he hopes to fulfill in the coming years. VW will “shape mobility – for the present and the future”. Apparently, the protesters in the room weren’t very impressed.
For Blume, it is the first regular general meeting since he took office. Despite record profits, the VW share price has moved sideways at best in recent months. Since the CEO took over the management of VW in September, the price has fallen by around nine percent.
The activists criticize the outflow of funds to the company owners, which could be used for a faster transition to e-mobility.
(Photo: Reuters)
Recently, Blume had made several strategic shifts, above all in China and in the important software area.
At the beginning of the week, VW reorganized the board of its troubled software unit Cariad. According to corporate circles, the previous management was too slow in implementing the software strategy. The new boss will be Bentley manager Peter Bosch from June. In addition, VW as a group should rely more on partners when it comes to software issues. “Cariad should and will deliver,” said the CEO in front of the shareholders present.
Blume also drew his “China Vision 2030”, which the board of directors essentially presented at the auto show in Shanghai. According to this, the group wants to develop innovations up to 30 percent faster in China, respond more to customer requests and give China Board Member Brandstätter a freer hand when making important decisions in his business area.
In the first quarter, the Volkswagen brand lost its title as market leader for the first time and fell behind the Chinese e-car supplier BYD. “In China, VW’s market shares are in free fall,” said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability at the fund company Deka. When it comes to e-mobility, VW is “being pinched by Tesla from the West and BYD from the East”.
In connection with the reports on human rights violations in Xinjiang, Speich pointed out that in November the US financial services provider MSCI issued a warning in its sustainability rating for VW because of its plant in the region. Some funds then threw the stock out of their portfolios.
This is how the protest differs between investors and demonstrators.
More: “Pleased with the willingness to engage in dialogue” – climate activists from the “last generation” want to meet Wissing again.