Skip to main content

Works Meeting in Wolfsburg: “Safeguarding the Future of Volkswagen Together”

  • Group CEO Müller: “We are laying the foundation for the renewal of the Group in 2016.”
  • Brand CEO Diess: “We want to make Volkswagen Passenger Cars the sparkling core brand of the Group again.”
  • Works Council Chairman Osterloh: “Relentless clarification and the necessary consequences must follow.”

A concerted effort for the future: with a joint presentation, the Works Council, politicians, the Group and the brand all appealed for support for a unified path out of the Volkswagen crisis. “Despite the different views which people will of course have within a company, we know that we can only do it together,” said Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, at the works meeting in Wolfsburg. He encouraged the workforce to see the resulting transformation “not as a threat but as an opportunity”. Müller: “Together, we must make the necessary changes to safeguard the future of Volkswagen.”

Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the Group Works Council, and Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand, emphasized that everyone would need to pull in the same direction to make the company fit for the mobility of the future. “We are in absolute agreement; we are determined to bring Volkswagen back on the road to success together,” said Osterloh, speaking to an audience of more than 20,000 employees in Hall 11 at the Wolfsburg plant. And Diess emphasized: “It is our common task and responsibility to guide Volkswagen safely into the new era of mobility.”

In his speech, Stephan Weil, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, clearly stated that Lower Saxony was giving the company its full support as a major shareholder: “Lower Saxony has had a very close connection with Volkswagen for decades. The state is standing by Volkswagen and its employees – in good times and in not so good times.” Weil promised the employees that this would continue to apply in the future. “There is no reason to make any changes to the close links between the state and employees at Volkswagen. Let us carry on with confidence and commitment on this basis.”

Works Council Chairman Osterloh underlined that the Board of Management and the Works Council were forging ahead with clarification with full power. “We are well aware that this is what our customers, our employees, shareholders, politicians and the public expect – and rightly so.” Osterloh assured the employees that “relentless clarification” had the full support of management and Works Council: “Only when we have thoroughly clarified these events can we avoid further damage to our company and to our jobs. As a workforce, we will fight hard to make sure that Volkswagen emerges from this crisis with new strength.”

Nevertheless, brand CEO Diess sees positive signs in the current situation. The Tiguan is a great opportunity,” he said, speaking where the new compact SUV is to be produced. “To date, about 15,000 Tiguans have been ordered. The start of production has gone very well to date and was excellently planned by the team in Wolfsburg. This is how we can and should continue.” Diess said that the 12-point program of the Volkswagen brand was a comprehend-sive reform program which would make the company faster and more efficient, safeguarding its future. “If we do the right things now, Volkswagen can become the sparkling core brand of the Group again in a few years’ time. The Wolfsburg plant has a key role to play in these efforts,” Diess added.

In his speech, Group CEO Müller emphasized: “The core brand Volkswagen and our main plant in Wolfsburg bear a special responsibility”. He thanked not only the major shareholders such as the State of Lower Saxony for their support, but also and especially the workforce. Müller: “I am deeply impressed by the way our employees are standing by Volkswagen despite everything that has happened and how everyone is working to confirm the trust of our customers.”He said that the bonus which had been decided on for 2015 was therefore “well-earned and justified”.

In Müller’s opinion, both the brand and the Group are well-equipped for the future. He said that the Group had already proved at the Geneva Motor Show “that Volkswagen is more than just a crisis.” Whether we are talking about electro-mobility, digital networking or autonomous driving – “we have clearly shown that we are embarking on the future of mobility with determination.”

The post Works Meeting in Wolfsburg: “Safeguarding the Future of Volkswagen Together” appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1U1M46d
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project Golf SportWagen- Intro

I’ve never really been one for SUVs and crossovers.  The current offerings aren’t the body-on-frame, go-anywhere specialty tools I remember from my youth, and what they lack in capability, they also lack in on-road performance. The current crop isn’t terribly good at handling or being efficient, which in my opinion are major components of our ideal driving experience.  So when it comes to space or utility, I usually look for something of the wagon variety- and it seems that I’m not alone. We hit quite a few shows around the east coast each summer, and we see modified Jetta SportWagens at nearly every event. Even amongst common consumers, these cars are highly sought-after. They don’t depreciate much, making even early Mk 5 2.5 versions expensive in comparison to other Jettas or Golfs of the same vintage. This year, Volkswagen launched their latest SportWagen, which is now billed as a Golf.  In many ways, this latest SportWagen is the best yet and it has certai...
Post a Comment
Read more