Volkswagen boss Müller sets out new priorities for recovery

Volkswagen boss Matthias Müller says the company will emerge from its current emissions scandal “stronger than before” and has set out five priorities for turning the fortunes of the German manufacturer around.

Unsurprisingly, Müller says his top two priorities are to rectify those cars affected by the emissions scandal and to investigate how the installation of the so-called ‘defeat device’ became so widespread. In a statement, he said: “Our customers are at the core of everything that our 600,000 employees worldwide do.

“We must uncover the truth and learn from it.”

As well as investigating the matter internally, Volkswagen has also engaged an independent auditor to assess its findings. Müller has stressed that those responsible will face severe consequences.

Beyond the immediate investigation, Müller says that another of the VW Group’s top priorities will be to realign itself with a more decentralised structure. In addition to the personnel moves and group realignments already announced, Müller says that “the key point is that Group management will be decentralised to a greater extent in the future” - something designed to give the different brands in the group more independence in their own regions.

Hinting at a possible radical realignment of the brand’s future model portfolio - already known to be affected thanks to 1 billion euros (around Rs 7,300 crore) in reduced spending per year - Müller said: “We will review in detail our current portfolio of more than 300 models and examine the contribution that each one makes to our earnings.”

Müller’s fourth priority is described as being ‘a realignment of the Group’s culture and management behaviour’ - with Müller noting that changes are necessary in how Volkswagen “communicates and how it handles its mistakes”. Many have been critical of how slowly VW has appeared to communicate with an apologise to its customers, but Müller has stressed that “we need a culture of openness and cooperation.”

Beyond those priorities, VW is working on a new plan dubbed the new Group Strategy 2025. An evolution of the current Strategy 2018 plan, the new initiative will be unveiled in full towards the middle of next year. Müller said: “Many people outside of Volkswagen, but also some of us, did not understand that our Strategy 2018 is about much more than production numbers. A lot of things were subordinated to the desire to be “Faster, Higher, Larger”, especially return on sales.” Instead of sheer volume, says Müller, the focus of the plan will instead be on qualitative growth.
 

Darren Moss (Autocar UK)