Volkswagen has reacted to its recent troubles and dieselgate by announcing a five-point plan and a new group strategy that will be revealed in 2016. Matthias Muller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen said: "We have to look beyond the current situation and create the conditions for Volkswagen's successful further development," and continued by stating, "Volkswagen will emerge from the current situation stronger than before".
Top priority is supporting customers affected by the diesel issue; technical solutions are set to be implemented from January 2016.
Establishing exactly what happened was identified as the second issue. Audit firm Deloitte is engaged to investigate as part of a thorough inquiry. Muller commented: "We must uncover the truth and learn from it", promising that those responsible would face severe consequences.
The third item was to re-organise parts of the group; with a decentralisation of management and greater autonomy for the brands and regions. Muller envisions the Board of Management as addressing cross-brand strategies, leveraging synergies to ensure that Group resources are used effectively. "We will review in detail our current portfolio of more than 300 models and examine the contribution that each one makes to our earnings."
Realigning the group's culture and management behaviour came fourth. The pursuit of perfection, the employees' commitment and social responsibility will be retained. What Muller wants to change is the way Volkswagen communicates and how it handles its mistakes. "We need a culture of openness and cooperation," Muller said, while calling on personnel to display more courage, greater creativity and a more entrepreneurial spirit in their dealings with one another.
Finally, the Group Strategy 2018 will be transformed into 'Strategy 2025'. The goal, according to Muller, is not to sell more or fewer cars than the company's competitors but to achieve 'qualitative growth'. The Volkswagen CEO said: "Many people outside of Volkswagen, but also some of us, did not understand that our Strategy 2018 is about much more than production numbers. A lot of things were subordinated to the desire to be "Faster, Higher, Larger", especially return on sales."
Anything else?
The cornerstones of Volkswagen's Group Strategy 2025 will be developed over the coming months and revealed mid-way through next year.