Volkswagen chief executive Herbert Diess has canceled a planned trip to the United States in a bid to soothe tensions with VW’s union leaders in Germany.
Diess has been outspoken in his belief that VW needs to accelerate its transition to all-electric vehicles if it wants to remain the world’s largest car manufacturer and establish itself as a legitimate rival to Tesla. He recently suggested that VW could lose up to 30,000 jobs if its transition to EVs is too slow, and these comments didn’t go over well with labor representatives.
Earlier this week, reports asserted that a specially convened Volkswagen committee had been established to discuss the future of Diess as CEO. Included in this committee was supervisory board chairman and CEO of Porsche SE, Hans Dieter Poetsch, state premier of the German state of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, works council leader Daniela Cavallo, and head of IG Metall, Germany’s largest trade union, Joerg Hofman, Auto News reports.
VW Wolfsburg – WikiMedia Commons/Richard Bartz – Ain wirk
Speaking at a staff meeting on Thursday, Diess expressed his concerns about the future of the company’s Wolfsburg factory.
“Yes, I’m worried about Wolfsburg,” he said. “I want that your children and grandchildren can still have a secure job here with us in Wolfsburg. That’s my point today. That’s why I’m here.”
Cavallo called on Diess to focus on resolving the semiconductor shortage rather than dedicating time to his social media postings. Cavallo also said that VW produced fewer than 500,000 vehicles in Wolfsburg in 2020 and may only make 400,000 vehicles this year, despite signing a labor pact five years ago promising to build at least 820,000 cars in Wolfsburg in 2020.
“I’m being frequently asked why I keep comparing us with Tesla. I know this is annoying to some,” Diess added during the recent meeting. “Even if I no longer talk about Elon Musk, he will still be there and revolutionizes our industry and keeps getting more competitive quickly.”
