New Volkswagen CEO Said to Shrink Management Board by One-Third: Report

Photo: Volkswagen

It’s been less than a month since Volkswagen’s CEO stepped down, and the incoming head of the company is already looking to make some changes.

Volkswagen’s new CEO Oliver Blume is looking to make the management board team smaller, as detailed by two sources familiar with the matter in a report from Reuters.

Blume hopes the move will help the board become more focused on future goals, following former CEO Herbert Diess’s slightly tumultuous last few years with the company.

The sources say the board may drop to just eight or nine spots, after it had as many as 12 under Diess’s command.

One of the sources said that “some dual functions should be reconsidered.”

No official decision has been made as of yet, according to the sources. Blume will succeed Diess beginning on September 1.

Volkswagen’s time with Diess at the helm was marked by infighting at the company, and Blume’s move to replace him already reflects shareholder hopes to have a better handle on the automaker’s strategies.

In June, Volkswagen lost two executives in the electric vehicle (EV) department just as ID.4 production was starting to ramp up.

An internal power struggle at Volkswagen last year almost saw Diess step down, but negotiations between the company and the CEO instead sought to add a member to the management board.