Skip to main content

VW Group’s New CEO Wants to Sell Off Some of its Brands

Volkswagen Group last week appointed Herbert Diess as its new CEO, who replaces Porsche transplant Mathias Mueller in the position.

Diess will be tasked with simplifying the complicated VW Group conglomerate and ensuring it remains profitable going forward. One way to help achieve both of these things is to sell off some of the company’s numerous brand assets, giving it a slimmer but more focused portfolio. According to Reuters, this may be exactly what Diess has in mind, with the executive saying they will “review all options,” including selling brands or investing in them.

“We want to create a slimmed down company with strong brands,” Diess said shortly after his appointment last week.

It’s not likely that any of VW’s passenger car brands are on the chopping block, but companies like MAN Diesel, which makes large-bore diesel engines, or Renk AG, a producer of gear drive assemblies, very well could be. Motorcycle manufacturer Ducati, which was nearly sold for $1.8 billion last year, is another that may eventually be made available for purchase.

In addition to simplifying VW Group’s business, Diess is also keen on streamlining its passenger car operations. This will begin with lumping its brands into respective categories. For example, the volume brands (VW, Skoda, Seat and VW Commercial) would be grouped under one umbrella, while very high-end brands (Bugatti, Lamborghini, Bentley) would fall under a separate one. VW has yet to provide specifics on this plan, though.

Diess joined VW Group in 2015 after spending nearly two decades at rival manufacturer BMW. He garnered favor with his peers for his handling of VW labor disputes, helping to boost him into the CEO role once board members began to look for a replacement for Mueller. He will steer a more simplified VW ship as it looks to move on from the dieselgate scandal and boost its market share in the U.S. and China.

[Source: Reuters]

this article first appeared on AutoGuide

The post VW Group’s New CEO Wants to Sell Off Some of its Brands appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2H6ukHK
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volkswagen Golf GTE Wins Top Honor at the 2015 Business Techies Awards

Golf GTE wins Green category in the 2015 BusinessCar Fleet Technology awards Judges praised the Golf GTE for its performance, ease of use and economy Golf GTE launched earlier this year with plug-in hybrid technology – priced from £33,755 204 PS performance combined with CO 2  emissions of just 39 g/km Volkswagen has added to its growing list of 2015 automotive industry accolades by winning the Green category in the annual BusinessCar Fleet Technology Awards – the Techies. The prestigious title was awarded to Volkswagen for the Golf GTE, an innovative plug-in hybrid that combines sporty dynamics with exceptional fuel economy and low CO 2  emissions. Now in their seventh year, the Techies are judged by both BusinessCar’s experienced editorial panel with help from TRL’s technology expert. The industry’s only technology-specific awards, the BusinessCar Techies reward the use of technology to make business car fleet operations easier, cheaper, cleaner, safer and more straig...
Post a Comment
Read more