Volkswagen's CEO Herbert Diess who has been the man tasked behind the reinvention of the German automotive giant into an electric car first brand is facing a no-confidence motion from the worker council. This motion comes after the German claimed that Volkswagen could potentially lose up to 30,000 jobs if its electrification plans weren't actioned immediately. More recently, he was seen hosting Tesla's Elon Musk over a video call in an offsite with his top executives where the world's richest man shared insights over how Tesla operates.
The situation isn't as dire as Diess has always had the backing of the Volkswagen Board of Directors who installed him as CEO in the wake of the "dieselgate" scandal. Diess committed an investment of upwards of $90 billion towards electrifying all the brands under the group. This is the boldest investment and commitment that any automaker has made. But the situation has resulted in some saltiness that has resulted in him canceling a trip to the US. Instead, he gave a talk to the employees amid the review.
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The Volkswagen CEO drove a Tesla Y
"I'm being frequently asked why I keep comparing us with Tesla. I know this is annoying to some. Even if I no longer talk about Elon Musk, he will still be there and revolutionises our industry and keeps getting more competitive quickly. Yes, I'm worried about Wolfsburg. I want that your children and grandchildren can still have a secure job here with us in Wolfsburg. That's my point today. That's why I'm here," he said to his employees.
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The worker council for the part supports Volkswagen's plans to electrify its entire portfolio and transform towards becoming an electric car company by 2025, however, many people fear job cuts. This is something Toyota's CEO Akio Toyoda has also warned the Japanese government about. On top of this, the global semiconductor shortage isn't helping matters having hit Volkswagen group quite hard while its chief rival in the EV space Tesla has managed the situation quite
Diess also shared controversially in an LinkedIn post how Volkswagen's own petrol and diesel cars were more expensive to run than its EVs -- in a way sherlocking those products. He was forced to delete the post.
