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His career was actually over. During the Nazi regime, he fell out of favor with the US military administration because of his leadership position at Opel. But Heinrich Nordhoff (1899–1968) was just what the British needed. In 1947 the occupying power needed a VW plant manager and hired engineer Nordhoff with a kiss. Nordhoff drove VW for about 20 years until his cardiac death. An unimaginably long time for most of his successors. Because since Volkswagen became an AG in 1960, things have often been turbulent at the automaker’s management level, and some CEO careers have fallen victim to this turbulence.
The last victim of a VW storm was Herbert Diess (64) in August 2022. Repeated discussions with the supervisory board, his succinct statements about the future and business of the Wolfsburg plant, the hesitant start of software subsidiary Cariad, and the problems with the launch of potential bestsellers ID.3 and Golf cost the former BMW executive’s office. It’s not the first reluctant departure from the VW boardroom.
complex power relations
Because VW is considered complex. The federal state of Lower Saxony, where the Wolfsburg main plant is located, has 20 percent of the voting rights on the supervisory board, which is decisive for filling board positions. 25 percent is normal. However, due to the VW law, which is constantly criticized by the EU, a blocking minority practice, that is, bloc decisions, is already allowed with this share. Economy or re-election? How the state intervenes always depends on the political majority in the Hanover (D) government. And then the works council now sits at the supervisory board with chairman Daniela Cavallo, 48.
What has caused an explosive mix of interests for decades. First to suffer: Nordhoff successor Kurt Lotz (1912-2005). From 1968 he put the involvement of unions and politicians in the company to the test, but he stayed on the sidelines and resigned in 1971. After all: from the belief of Nordhoff – Beetle, Beetle, Beetle, because it ran, ran and ran – it breaks and starts the development of new models with front-wheel drive. Launched under the direction of the successful Golf model, Rudolf Leiding (1914–2003) took advantage of this. However, he resigned in 1975. From where? He is fighting with employee representatives because he wants to expand US production.
Recovery thanks to front-wheel drive
Enter Toni Schmücker (1921–1996). The former Thyssen executive had to leave the job as the oil crisis swept through and there were 580,000 unsold cars in warehouse. But it’s also pushing other new front-wheel drive vehicles like the Golf GTI, stopping the Beetle in Europe and returning to profitability. After resigning for health reasons, he was replaced in 1982 by Carl Hahn (1926–2023). Spicy: He gave up his seat on the VW board in 1972 due to a strategic disagreement. Everyone may be talking about Ferdinand Piëch today, but it was Hahn who laid the foundations of today’s group. The new Chinese business is the acquisition of Seat in 1986 and the gradual takeover of Skoda from 1990; A PhD in Economics provided the impetus. Also about the reorganization of the group in 1991, since then the VW brand has been part of the overall Volkswagen group. At the beginning of 1993, Hahn surrendered to possibly the most dazzling of all VW bosses.
VW is becoming a family affair
For Ferdinand Piëch (1937-2019), VW is a family affair. Grandfather Ferdinand Porsche helped invent the Beetle, Piëch brought Porsche into the modern era as the lead developer and into the nobility as Audi’s CEO. He puts forward new technology just for himself, rules with an iron fist, and ignores personal sensitivities. The British luxury automaker is buying Bentley after its sister brand Rolls-Royce moves to BMW, takes over Bugatti and Lamborghini, and turns niche models like the Vans Touran and Sharan into successful cars. Nobel pushes the VW Phaeton and the prototype of a one-liter car – but both bring only fame rather than money.
He hires board member José Ignacio López (82) for savings from GM. He’s said to take company secrets with him, and Piëch can avoid years of legal disputes only through a settlement. Piëch devised an innovative four-day workweek with staff manager Peter Hartz (81), but in 2007 it turned out that Hartz had won the works council on his side, with brothel visits and bespoke clothing. When Piëch surrendered to former BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder (75) in 2002, he relaxed the style, but sometimes questioned Piëch’s work. In 2006 he had to come under pressure from the new supervisory board chairman, Piëch.
diesel and distance
With Piëch-Intimus and Audi predecessor Martin Winterkorn (76), the group is igniting the next step – Winterkorn wants to become the world’s No.1 or even make diesel delicious to Americans. VW is running from record to record, with Winterkorn becoming a shining light that seems to have accomplished everything with Piëch. Until the VW diesel scandal involving manipulated engine software caused him to fall deeply in fall 2015: resignation. Piëch had already tried to overthrow Winterkorn in the spring; he was “away”. But success still speaks for Winterkorn. Porsche boss Matthias Müller (69) takes over, switches to electromobility, maintains record track despite the diesel debacle, but can no longer claim success: in April 2018 former BMW manager Herbert Diess (64) will arrive.
Its consistent trajectory towards e-mobility and the tech group seemed a little too fast and also not fast enough for the part of the workforce that group structures couldn’t keep up with. Oliver Blume (54) has been on the job since September 2022 and will also continue to hold his previous job as Porsche boss. He relies on a collaborative management culture and greater teamwork, but has already supported the reorganization of the Group’s Board of Directors and the reorganization of its software subsidiary Cariad. Now for China, it wants to stop VW’s decline in the important Chinese market with more models to be developed in China. The excitement continues in Wolfsburg.
Source: Blick
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
