The Volkswagen Group is on a solid footing, according to new chief executive Oliver Blume.
Speaking during a general meeting late last week, Blume said that he had spent his first 100 days at the helm of the company defining its strategy for China and North America, revising the software and platform strategies, and reshuffling many senior roles.
Blume noted that the Volkswagen Group needs to diversify in response to geopolitical tensions. He added that a decision on where to locate a new battery plant in Eastern Europe will be made shortly.
Auto News notes that the general meeting also saw the company’s shareholders vote on a special dividend of €19.06 ($20.28) per share with proceedings from the public listing of Porsche. Voters are expected to vote in favor of the payout in a move that will see 49 percent of the proceeds of the listing, or €9.6 billion ($10.17 billion), paid out in January.
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Volkswagen Group chief financial officer Arno Antlitz noted that the rise in Porsche’s value since its listing has proven the brand’s worth and that VW must now also prove its value to the markets
“Making the real value of Porsche visible was important,” Antlitz stated. “But through this it has also become clear that the current valuation of Volkswagen is imbalanced. We want to change that.”
Oliver Blume was announced as the new chief executive of the VW Group in late July, officially assuming the position on September 1st. VW’s Supervisory Board Executive Committee pushed former chief executive Herbert Diess out to make way for Blume. Diess has since been named as chairman of Infineon, a major chipmaker.
