Oliver Blume criticised by investors for dual VW and Porsche CEO role
Volkswagen’s new chief says at public meeting with investors that he intends to keep both jobs ‘long-term’
Volkswagen’s new chief executive Oliver Blume has been criticised by investors in his first public meeting since he took the top job at the world’s biggest carmaker while also remaining boss of Porsche.
Blume, who has been chief executive of VW subsidiary Porsche since 2015, took on the dual role in September after Herbert Diess was ousted from the parent company by shareholders and unions.
His dual role was the first point that Blume addressed in a speech to investors on Friday, arguing that the arrangement was “working out well” and that rules were in place “should there be potential conflicts of interest”.
“The two roles complement each other perfectly: like in soccer, where players give everything for their league club and at the same time play in the national team,” he said.
Investors did not appear reassured. Hendrik Schmidt, governance expert at DWS, which owns about 2 per cent of VW, said Blume’s dual role had caused “considerable unrest” among shareholders for months.
“Such an [arrangement] is so far unique in Germany and, from our point of view, cannot be considered responsible corporate management”.
Volkswagen has a complex ownership structure but is ultimately controlled by the Porsche-Piëch family, the heirs of the Porsche founder.
In September, Porsche was listed in one of Europe’s largest-ever initial public offerings, allowing the Porsche-Piëch family to acquire a larger stake in the sports car brand. Days after going public, Porsche overtook its parent company as the region’s most valuable carmaker.
VW shareholders on Friday voted to approve an extraordinary dividend of €19.06 per share — totalling €9.6bn, or 49 per cent of the proceeds of the Porsche IPO.
Marc Liebscher, a board member at small shareholder lobby group SdK, said Blume “cannot be a servant of two masters”.
Blume defended his position and said he intended to keep both roles “long-term”.
In his first months in the VW job, Blume has had to review the software strategy of the group, which also owns brands including Audi and Škoda.
Under Diess, the group created a unit called Cariad to develop software in house for VW’s various brands, but it has been plagued by delays.
Blume said creating Cariad had been the “right decision” but added that the company was now also considering external partnerships on software.