A generationA decision will be made in Wolfsburg next week: Once again, the question is whether the Volkswagen Supervisory Board faces pressure from the employees of the Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess decline. Again, Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, is enthusiastically looking for a solution acceptable to everyone in the company.
Volkswagen brand owner Ralph Brandstadt is likely to become the big winner of the new power struggle between Diss and the Work Committee in Wolfsburg. As FAZ discovered, Brandstätter will soon become a member of the Group Executive Committee. In addition, according to the opinion of the supervisory board circle, he is considering making him responsible for the mass production group of the group-namely, the responsibility of Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat mass product brands. So far, Diss has been responsible for this matter on the group’s board of directors.
Also in the summer of 2020, Brandstätter won a power struggle between Diess and the employee representatives of the Supervisory Board, which is often fought on the public stage through the media. At that time, Diess had to hand over the management of the Volkswagen brand to Brandstätter. Brandstätter, as the “Chief Operating Officer” (COO), was already the person in charge of day-to-day business, in order to alleviate Diess’s dual function and brand owner as the group. Back then, as now, one thing about Brandstätter was that he cultivated a different management style from Diess, which his employees generally regarded as rude and provocative.
Spent my entire career in the team
Compared with Diess, Brandstätter is a typical Volkswagen factory. His entire career has been spent in the company. He is familiar with the culture of giving and receiving each other. Public Works Committee, Management and Lower Saxony as the second largest shareholder influence Volkswagen’s strategy. Unlike Diss, this industrial engineer is seen as a team player, and unlike a polarized CEO, he has never made friends with the “Volkswagen System” in Wolfsburg.
The most important thing is that Porsche and Piech, the owner family that owns more than half of the common stock, insist on Diss in this new conflict. It is said that although they are also annoyed by the CEO’s continued provocation, they believe that under the current circumstances, there is no choice but Diess. “The changes at the top are not good,” they said. In addition, the Supervisory Board just renewed its contract with Diss in the summer. The union did not fundamentally criticize the CEO’s goals and strategy.This is why many people in the company expect it Poch Together with Diess and Brandstätter, a solution was successfully found.
If Diss still falls, Porsche boss Oliver Bloom will be considered the most promising candidate for his successor. However, according to reports, he is currently working on part of the IPO of the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer. Porsche Will bring greater independence from Wolfsburg. Time is the key to the decision. As early as December 9th, the Supervisory Board wanted to decide on billions of dollars worth of investments and factory occupancy in the next few years. This is impossible without clarifying the management issues and the upcoming new appointments of the group board of directors.
Disrupted trust relationship
The trust relationship between Diss and the union members of the Supervisory Board has been severely disrupted. Previously, the boss of Volkswagen requested a “faster” transformation of the core brand in an internal meeting and tested as many as 30,000 jobs. The Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Stephen Weir (SPD) is also disturbed. “Such courses cannot be completed in this country,” he said.
After the last meeting of the Mediation Committee of the Supervisory Board, more voices of compromise preparation can now be heard from the labor committee camp. The requirement of “this must go” does not exist. Brandstätter is valued by employee representatives because he always involves them in important decisions at an early stage.
