What do you expect from Miguel Lopez?
Mr. López has to show successes quickly and show that he can change the structures. He has to prove that the reorientation can proceed successfully.
In her farewell letter to the employees, Martina Merz wrote that a new phase was beginning after the “rescue operation”. Was Merz really a savior?
The salvation was to ensure that the company was viable in the medium term. She did this by selling the elevator division and the liquidity generated with it. Unfortunately, she didn’t go any further. That led to the shambles we are now facing. Nobody knows where the journey should go. Ms. Merz failed to list the electrolyser manufacturer Nucera when the environment was still good. In addition, it was not possible to transfer the steel business into new hands, i.e. to another owner. This all happened at a time when the steel business had a massive tailwind. And then she wasn’t able to set up the steel division in such a way that it was no longer at the bottom of the list in Europe.
Also read: That’s why Martina Merz failed at Thyssenkrupp
Merz predecessors also failed to sell the steel division. Apparently there are hardly any serious buyers now. Is this a Mission Impossible?
A sale is a difficult mission. And that’s why one should be very careful with advance praise for the new CEO. At Thyssenkrupp, several very suitable CEOs failed to solve the steel issue. Whether a new CEO can change anything there is questionable. All the people involved must show a certain willingness to reform. The question is to what extent the steel division is part of the core business and whether it would be better to part with other units.