According to a report from Automobilwoche, Volkswagen fired its CEO Herbert Diess over software and a mix of other issues, including upsetting the Porsche and Piech families. The report noted that the families no longer trusted Diess to lead VW into the future.
The now ex-CEO of VW who is also very pro-EV was unexpectedly fired from the company a couple of days ago.
Software issues and the Porsche and Piech families
According to Automobilwoche, the “driving force” for Diess to go was the Porsche and Piech families. Apparently, he had been getting on the families’ nerves for some time. This and the accusation that Porsche and Audi were jeopardizing the Cariad project with their need for special requests upset the Porsche family.
Also, Diess shared his solution for Cariad at a meeting, but only presented it to the supervisory board a week and a half later. This, the article points out, caused resentment.
He also noted that Diess is not completely fired from the company as his contract was extended last year until October 2025.
The thoughts of Brent Winton of ARK Invest.
ARK Invest’s Brett Winton shared his thoughts on the matter. He noted that OEMs still view software as a cosmetic cost center rather than the key performance differentiator. This, he said, will be his death.
— Brett Winton (@wintonARK) July 24, 2022
Elon Musk on the firing of Herbert Diess.
When asked by @WholeMarsBlog to share his thoughts on VW dropping Diess, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said software is the key to the future. This echoes what Brett Winton said.
Software is the key to the future
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2022
Will VW be as pro EV as it was under Diess?
I don’t know the answer to that question, but I suspect no, not to the level that Diess has. I’m sure they’ll be pro-EV enough to try to compete with Tesla, but no more than that.
Elon Musk and Herbert Diess have a lot of respect for each other. Last year, Elon Musk appeared virtually at the 2021 Leadership Summit of VW executives, where the now former CEO of VW emphasized the importance of changing the company’s mindset to face new competition.
I don’t think the new CEO will be as openly supportive of the Tesla CEO as Diess was. Who knows? I may be proven wrong. The future will be interesting.
VW reportedly fired CEO Herbert Diess over software and other issues