The outgoing VW CEO is officially in office until August 31, but will not take part in the current balance sheet presentation.
(Photo: Reuters)
Dusseldorf The VW Group will present its half-year figures this Thursday. It would be a matter of course for the current CEO to take part in the balance sheet presentation. But nothing is normal in Wolfsburg at the moment after the change in management that was announced at the end of last week. Volkswagen is in the transition phase from the previous to the new CEO.
Herbert Diess, 63, is officially in office until August 31, one day later Oliver Blume, 54, the Porsche boss from Stuttgart, takes over. Diess will not participate in the press conference on the half-year results on Thursday morning. “Then the company’s key figures would no longer be the focus,” said Wolfsburg as the reason for Herbert Diess’ waiver. The outgoing CEO would probably have to endure too many questions about his sudden end as VW CEO.
On Thursday morning, Diess clears the stage for CFO Arno Antlitz, 52, who is allowed to present the half-year balance sheet alone for the first time and without the usual support from Diess. Antlitz will continue to play an important role in Wolfsburg in the future. Because Oliver Blume is to lead the VW Group and Porsche as CEO in a personal union, Antlitz is promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) at headquarters. This is intended to relieve Blume in day-to-day business.
At Volkswagen, the Group Board of Management meets regularly on Tuesdays. Herbert Diess was there again this week and chaired the meeting of the top VW management committee. Of course, his sudden sacking and upcoming move to Blume played an important role at the board meeting.
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Because it should have been the last time that Herbert Diess asked his colleagues on the board for quiet and attention as the chair of the meeting. In the coming week, the “non-meeting” period will begin in Wolfsburg, and then the board members will also be able to take their summer vacation. At the end of August, the next regular board meeting of the group would be on the agenda, i.e. before Oliver Blume officially takes office.
>>Read here the chronology of the sacking of Volkswagen boss Diess.
Nobody at the headquarters in Wolfsburg can really imagine that Herbert Diess will then return for the very last time. As Porsche boss, Oliver Blume is also a member of the group board, so he could take over the management of the board meeting before September 1st. Or CFO Arno Antlitz jumps in, just like with the presentation of the balance sheet on Thursday of this week.
Herbert Diess, on the other hand, is making completely different plans for the future. He won’t be able to reappear in the automotive industry anytime soon, lock-in clauses of at least one year are completely normal after leaving the Volkswagen group management. Instead, the car manager wants to open his first hotel in northern Spain in autumn – the accommodation industry is not affected by the blocking clause.
More: VW boss Herbert Diess has to make room for Porsche boss Oliver Blume – “It’s a smooth sacking”