Mr. ‘Voltswagen’ Shocked Too Much. Can Mr. Congeniality Do Better?
Herbert Diess’s ouster shows where the power at VW lies — and it’s not with investors.
The new boss of Volkswagen, Oliver Blume.
Photographer: Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images
Barely a year ago Volkswagen AG boss Herbert Diess was secure enough in his role. Though the outspoken former BMW AG executive repeatedly clashed with trade unions after his appointment in 2018, his ambitious electric-vehicle strategy and very public bromance with Tesla Inc.'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."
On Friday, Diess was unceremoniously ousted after shocking once too often for the liking of VW's family owners, the Porsche and Piech clan. He's been replaced by someone less provocative and more congenial -- and closer to the owners. Oliver Blume, the boss of VW's very profitable Porsche subsidiary. (Blume will retain his job running the 911 maker in addition to managing the much larger VW group.) The change should cool internal tensions, but Blume mustn't lose VW's new dynamism and value-creation potential.