Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest automaker, did not give a reason for Diess’ departure.
Electric focus
The number of battery EVs sold by VW nearly doubled to 453,000 worldwide in 2021, ranking 3rd among pure EVs sold only by Tesla and General Motors – and most of the latter’s sales came from the Chinese joint venture.VW surpassed all other automakers, including Tesla, in European EV sales by 310,000 vehicles. .
Tesla will still sell more than twice as many pure EVs as VW did in 2021 — and EVs represented just 5% of VW’s vehicles sold last year — but the focus under Diess is key to the company’s future plans.
“Herbert Diess played a key role in advancing the transformation of the company. The group and its brands are viable for the future; its innovative capabilities and earning power are strengthened,” said Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of the company’s board, in a statement. . “He not only steered the company through very turbulent waters, but he also implemented a new strategy.”
But all is not rosy. While Volkswagen may be ahead of most traditional automakers in the planned switch to electric vehicles, it lags behind Toyota in the race for total vehicle sales — a key metric for the sector.
Last year Toyota posted 10.5 million total car sales in 2021, 1.5 million more than Volkswagen. In 2019, pre-pandemic Volkswagen outsold Toyota by 200,000 cars to 10.9 million vehicles.
As part of the management administration, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz will become Chief Operating Officer.
— CNN Business’ Peter Valdez-Tapena contributed to this report.
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