New earthquake at the top of the Volkswagen group. Indeed, Herbert Diess will step down as chairman of the board and will be replaced by Porsche brand manager Oliver Blume, the group said in a statement. Diess’s farewell – which was decided “by mutual agreement” after a meeting of the supervisory board – will take effect from 1 September. Diess, 64, joined the board of directors of the group in 2015 after a long experience in BMW and was appointed president in April 2018. Already in 2020, as part of a reorganization, his powers had been reduced and rumors had been running for some time about his farewell.
Blume will maintain the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Porsche AG and – the note explains – will maintain this position “even after an eventual IPO”. Supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch thanked Diess for “playing a key role in driving the company’s transformation.” The Supervisory Board has also resolved that Group CFO Arno Antlitz will also assume the position of COO and thus assist Blume in day-to-day operations. Blume joined the Volkswagen Group in 1994 and has since held top positions for the AUDI, SEAT, Volkswagen and Porsche brands. He has been Chairman of the Porsche Board of Directors since 2015 and a member of the Group’s Board of Directors since 2018.