Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG (ex-CEO of Porsche), has announced the five key steps to realign the Group especially in light of the current 'DieselGate' crisis that the group is facing. I think this is very much needed as we are now hearing that the 3.0liter Volkswagen/Audi diesel engine also has some cheat device for emissions testing in them.
The crisis faced by Volkswagen group is really huge. For the first time in years the group has posted a loss. There are 600,000 employees worldwide to care about too. The key steps would be put in place (five of them) and we would now see a new game plan that would see the Volkswagen group's future to the year 2025 would be rolled out by middle of 2016. This effectively replaces the earlier Group Strategy 2018.
A lot of hard work ahead for one of the automobile industry's biggest players. And one of the hardest hit in recent history.
PRESS RELEASE
Matthias Müller unveils next steps for the Volkswagen Group
• Support for customers top priority
• Volkswagen looks beyond current crisis
• New strategy to be unveiled in 2016
Wolfsburg, October 28, 2015 – Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management
of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, has announced the five key steps to realign the
Group. “We have to look beyond the current situation and create the conditions for
Volkswagen’s successful further development”, said Müller in Wolfsburg on
Wednesday. He presented a five point plan that he intends to use so that Volkswagen
remains one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers in the future. Müller is
confident that “Volkswagen will emerge from the current situation stronger than
before”. He announced that the cornerstones of the Group’s Strategy 2025 will be
presented next year.
The Volkswagen CEO explained that his top priority is to support the customers affected by
the diesel issue. “Our customers are at the core of everything that our 600,000 employees
worldwide do”, he said. According to Müller, Volkswagen is working intensively to develop
effective technical solutions. In contact with the Kraftfahrtbundesamt (KBA – German Federal
Motor Transport Authority) the implementation is set to begin in January 2016.
Müller’s second priority is to systematically drive forward and complete the investigation into
what happened. “We must uncover the truth and learn from it”, he said, adding that
Volkswagen is being extremely thorough in its analysis. For this purpose, audit firm Deloitte
has been engaged in addition to the steps already announced. According to Müller, those
responsible for what has happened must face severe consequences.
Müller’s third priority is to introduce new structures in the Volkswagen Group. “The key point
is that Group management will be decentralized to a greater extent in the future”, he said,
with more independence for the brands and regions. Müller stated that the Board of
Management will focus on addressing cross-brand strategies, leveraging synergies and
ensuring that Group resources are used effectively. “We will review in detail our current
portfolio of more than 300 models and examine the contribution that each one makes to our
earnings.”
As his fourth priority, Müller is driving forward a realignment of the Group’s culture and
management behavior. He noted that the pursuit of perfection, the employees’ commitment
and social responsibility in the Volkswagen Group must be retained. However, he believes
that changes are necessary in how Volkswagen communicates and how it handles its
mistakes. “We need a culture of openness and cooperation.” Müller also called on everybody
at Volkswagen to display more courage, greater creativity and a more entrepreneurial spirit in
their dealings with one another.
The Volkswagen CEO announced that the fifth priority will be to transform the Group’s
Strategy 2018 into a Strategy 2025. “Many people outside of Volkswagen, but also some of
us, did not understand that our Strategy 2018 is about much more than production numbers.
A lot of things were subordinated to the desire to be “Faster, Higher, Larger”, especially
return on sales.” According to Müller, the point is not to sell 100,000 more or fewer vehicles
than a major competitor. Instead, the real issue is qualitative growth. Müller announced that
the cornerstones of the Group’s Strategy 2025 will be developed over the coming months,
and that it would be unveiled mid-way through next year.
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