So as we all predicted, Porsche chairman Matthias Mueller has been named as the new VW CEO by the Supervisory Board. He will continue in the Porsche role - a job he has held since 2010 - until a replacement has been found; there's been a very confusing round of musical chairs in the VW Group just announced so we'll deal with that soon.
Vahland a name you will see more of
Of his new position, Mueller said: "My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group - by leaving no stone unturned", which sounds like an unenviable task given the current climate. He spoke of "stringent compliance" and "innovative strength" as key to emerging from the crisis in an even stronger position. A tough job but VW clearly has faith; his contract runs until 2020.
There are however plenty of new names to learn in the Group shake up. The discovery of the 'defeat devices' and their implications has led to a wholesale restructuring. Interim Chairman of the Supervisory Board Berthold Huber describes it as a reorganisation which "strengthens the brands and regions, gives the Group Board of Management the necessary leeway for strategy... and lays a focus on the targeted development of future-oriented fields." Don't worry, it gets more confusing after that...
Predictably enough American operations are a strong focus. From November 1, VW's activities in the USA, Canada and Mexico will be 'combined and significantly strengthened' into one new North America region. Mexico will surely be overjoyed at that. It will be governed by Prof. Dr. Winfried Vahland, who was Chairman of the Board at Skoda. This takes him onto the VW Board of Management, with his Skoda position taken up by Bernhard Maier, who was responsible for Sales and Marketing at Porsche. Maier does not yet have a replacement. Interestingly and quite surprisingly, Michael Horn keeps his job. Who? President and CEO of VW Group of America. Right...
Welcome to VW Herr Diess!
From the American reshuffle comes the news of VW being separated into a management structure with four regions, each led by a local CEO (names TBC at this point) who will report directly to Chairman Herbert Diess. Of course streamlining is mentioned behind this move but also 'strengthening the brands and regional accountability, surely with an eye to avoid future Group CEO resignations. Indeed Huber goes one step further, stating that the brands will have "greater independence" in production and therefore "that they should also hold the responsibility for these activities." To that end the production department at a Group level has been immediately abolished, with the new management model to be implemented at the start of next year. Reducing complexity should mean urgent issues are dealt with more, well, urgently. Let's see.
The reorganisation goes further still, the global products now focusing on four segments: volume, premium, sport and commercial vehicles. A 'brand group' will take charge of each section so there's a new Porsche brand group with Bugatti and Bentley dealing with the 'sportscar and mid-engine toolkit.' Given Wolfgang Durheimer already heads up Bugatti and Bentley, could he take on Mueller's role at Porsche and lead that group? The premium stuff will be Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati with VW, Skoda and SEAT the volume brands. There is no further news on the commercial vehicles. Another new department is being created to ensure that the 'toolkit strategy' can be closely monitored by Mueller. And if you're confused by 'toolkit', think of the MQB that underpins so many VW cars at the moment; more than a platform and therefore a toolkit in VW speak.
Don't be surprised to see this happen again
Nearly there. On the staffing front, there have been rumours of both Ulrich Hackenberg and Wolfgang Hatz being suspended rather than dismissed but that's unofficial right now. The most notable confirmed dismissal is that of Christian Klinger, who was 'member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft with responsibility for Sales and Marketing and member of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management with responsibility for Sales and Marketing' . Though apparently it is 'not related to recent events'. Yeah. Former SEAT Chairman Jurgen Stackmann will take over Klingler's role on the brand Board, with Mueller taking up the other role temporarily. Stackmann's move means the new SEAT Chairman will be Luca de Meo, who was Audi Board member for Sales and Marketing, with all this effective from October 1. Phew.
If you've made it all this way then well done. The diesel emissions saga has clearly acted as a huge wake up call to VW to drastically improve the management situation and ensure nothing like it can happen again. No doubt more updates will follow as people are in and out - plus there's the recall to think of - so we'll keep you posted as there's more.
Durheimer, Diess and Vahland pics: Autocar