Herbert Diess was toppled after shocking once too often for the liking of VW's family owners, the Porsche and Piech clan
arely a year ago Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess was secure enough in his role. Though the outspoken former BMW executive repeatedly clashed with trade unions after his appointment in 2018, his ambitious electric-vehicle strategy and very public bromance with Tesla's Elon Musk caught the eye of US retail investors, sending the shares surging. VW’s American arm even joked about changing the corporate name to “Voltswagen”.
The group's transformation from metal-basher to software-enabled electric-vehicle giant won't happen unless the person at the top is prepared to make unpopular decisions. Whatever Diess's faults as a manager and communicator, he didn't duck those challenges. But lately investors haven't supported him in the only way that matters: by buying the stock. Due to a combination of recession worries, VW's underperformance in China and software-development delays for which Diess must shoulder part of the blame, the shares have fallen 45% from the peak last year. That decline made it easier for VW power brokers to fire him. In short, the iconoclast broke many eggs, but neglected to complete the omelette.
Blume is no a pushover. He brings heaps of production experience and, with the launch of the electric Porsche Taycan , he proved he can do radical stuff without ruffling the wrong feathers.
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