Volkswagen CEO Out in Big Shakeup

Out with the old and in with the new. Volkswagen is going through an interesting time, and that includes giving Matthias Muller the boot as CEO. With rumors swirling that he was out, Volkswagen stock prices surged. Then it happened, and The Economist indicated Muller might have been happy to leave.

There are a lot of warring factions inside the Volkswagen Group, which has been the case for quite some time. Herbert Diess will be the one to navigate all that mess going forward. If you don’t know, he’s been head of the VW brand, a job he’s supposed to retain.

Diess comes from BMW, having been with VW for a little over two years. The idea seems to be that he’ll breathe new ideas into the company, raising it to the next level. He’s notorious for being tight with the purse strings, so VW brands might need to learn a thing or two about operational efficiency. In other words, they can’t burn through cash with fancy production robots that don’t work correctly.

How will this affect Volkswagen’s plans for electrification? We don’t know. Does this mean more SUVs will still be coming to North America? Sure, maybe.