Despite having a contract until 2020, former Porsche CEO Mueller, who replaced Martin Winterkorn in 2015 days after the emissions saga become known, will allegedly be replaced by Volkswagen Brand Head and Management Board member, Herbert Diess, as the company continues its push towards electrification.
“Volkswagen considers a further development of the management structure of the group which would also be associated with personnel changes in the board of management,“ the automaker said in statement according to Automotive News.
While no reason for Mueller’s suspected departure has been provided, sources within the Wolfsburg giant have claimed that he has become frustrated with an alleged lack of support in the company’s restructuring methods and on-going difficulty in moving on from Dieselgate.
“If Diess is confirmed as the successor, Volkswagen shares will extend their gains. We see no better alternative to Matthias Mueller to make the company fit for the future,” Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst was quoted as saying.
In the statement, Volkswagen further claims that Mueller has “expressed his general willingness to participate in the changes”, but according to reports, disagreements between stakeholders, unions and the automaker’s controlling families has made the business of impressing investors difficult.
A meeting of Volkswagen’s supervisory board is expected to take place this coming Friday (13 April) to discuss not only its truck and bus division, but also plans on moving forward, which could see Mueller being replaced by Diess. News of Mueller’s replacing also had an effect on Volkswagen’s market shares, with the New York Times reporting an upshot of 3.1% to €169 a share.
The publication also reports that Diess, who served on the Board of Management at BMW before joining Volkswagen in July 2015, “comes with considerable less baggage” than Mueller who has spent most of his career working within the Volkswagen Group, but added that his appointment could be met with resistance following a series of run-ins with Volkswagen’s worker council.
