Volkswagen shares gain as power struggle ends - for now
- At the same time, Diess dropped his demand for an early extension of his contract, which runs until 2023, according to people close to the supervisory board.
HAMBURG: Shares in Volkswagen rose as much as 5.2% on Tuesday after the carmaker temporarily defused a power struggle over the measures needed to accelerate the group's push towards electric vehicles.
The conflict pitted Chief Executive Herbert Diess against Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen's powerful labour boss, whose views differed on the pace required to turn the 83-year old automaker into a tech company modelled on Tesla.
In the statement late on Monday, Volkswagen's supervisory board provided unanimous support for Diess and key appointments requested by the 62-year old, including Arno Antlitz who will take over as finance chief from Frank Witter in June.
At the same time, Diess dropped his demand for an early extension of his contract, which runs until 2023, according to people close to the supervisory board, which was seen as a victory for Osterloh.
A Frankfurt-based trader described the situation as some kind of compromise.
Volkswagen also said it would cut overhead costs by 5% and procurement costs by 7% over the next two years and that Thomas Schmall would become board member in charge of a newly-created technology division from Jan. 1.
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