“Shareholders Of Volkswagen Demand Significant Changes To Top Management.”

According to the Reuters reports, the shareholders are concerned about matters surrounding both Porsche SE and Porsche AG. Porsche SE is a holding company of the Porsche/Piëch family, which produced the founders of Porsche and Volkswagen, but also former CEO Ferdinand Piëch, for example. Porsche SE holds more than half of the shares of Volkswagen AG and thus has a very big say in this company, and the other shareholders are not happy about that at all. “The feeling is becoming increasingly stronger that at VW it is not the market, but power that prevails,” Hendrik Schmidt of asset manager DWS told Reuters. Four investors argue that a lack of expertise in areas such as electrification and digitalization is working to Volkswagen’s disadvantage.

There is also criticism of the ‘dual role’ of the current CEO, Oliver Blume (photo above). He is not only the boss of Volkswagen AG, but also the CEO of Porsche AG, which we know from its sports cars and SUVs. This company should not be confused with the holding company Porsche SE, although that holding company does have a lot of influence on the car manufacturer Porsche due to its large stake in Volkswagen AG. Blume has been the boss of both Volkswagen and Porsche since Porsche was separately floated on the stock exchange in 2022, but according to many shareholders, this results in a conflict of interest. This would cause ‘serious reputational damage’ and ‘enormous financial losses.’

• Also See: Uber To Receive Thousands Of Self-Driving Electric Cars From Volkswagen.