(Domenico Conti)
A “political and moral disaster”, an “enormous damage caused by a small group” of managers. The mea culpa Volkswagen, played by interim president and union leader Berthold Huber, comes as the group of Wolfsburg makes official the appointment of a new CEO Matthias Mueller, in charge of cleaning up and re-launch the brand of Wolfsburg. “We face an unprecedented challenge”, but “we can overcome and we will overcome this crisis,” promises Mueller after the appointment with which happens to Martin Winterkorn, who took the liability of the ‘Dieselgate’. It ‘an energetic 62-year old manager and veteran of the group, whose four years at the helm of Porsche have made profits jump by 62%.
But the wave of the scandal of rigged tests on harmful emissions is long, and neither an apology nor the heads falls and the management reorganization announced today fail to contain it: the US Department of Justice formally opens a ‘ investigation that promises to be very dangerous for the German automaker, as Washington cites “potential public health implications and pollution.” While recovering BMW (+ 4%) and Fca (+ 3.26%), Volkswagen marks another fall in the stock market, -4.32%, leading to a heavy -34% losses since the beginning of the week, when Dieselgate exploded.
The value of the prestigious brand Vw, according to Brand Finance, has already reduced by 10 billion dollars: a blow to the image that will have an impact on sales and touching the standing of Germany itself, where Volkswagen is historical institution and is owned by the state of Lower Saxony. Even the ECB notes, suspending, according to Reuters, the Abs backed by auto loans targati VW. It is no coincidence the nod to “political disaster” of the leaders of the group, a scourge which puts the finger Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann about a Made in Germany “compromise”. and Italy Prime Minister Matteo Renzi talks about a “scam” by punishing “severely”.
The Swiss moves quickly and with facts, suspending sales of cars suspicious. In the US, lawyers are rubbing their hands in the face of possible class action, 27 US states are preparing to sue and the Agency for Environmental Protection (EPA) promises to be a close smog, while Europe, slowed from the typical divisions, with the approval bodies still divided by nationality and standards that would tolerate emissions observed in the US, trying to make the point in view of the Council on Competitiveness Thursday. Admitted that the scandal does not widen (in many denounce tricks widely distributed among other automakers), damage arising borne by only Volkswagen in Europe are set to be high. And ‘Berlin to let people know that, in Germany alone, 2.8 million vehicles were manipulated to pass the test, and that in addition to diesel and two 1.6-liter would be involved also 1.2, as the Polo, and some light vans .
The unions, who sit on the supervisory board of VW, despair and the head of the works council Bernd Osterloh calls a “fundamental cultural change” in a transparent manner. But meanwhile, show that key aspects of the tests ‘fake’ conducted in the US were managed directly by the managers of the VW group in Europe, which in the event of failure green light to a model in the US sent their engineers: according to Bloomberg are going to be made out Ulrich Hackenberg, head of development at Audi, and Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche. Meanwhile, part of a reorganization of top management: Michael Horn, president and CEO for the US who had said he was ready to leave, remains in place but now will report to a boss for North America, Winfried Vahland, from Skoda. Leave the chief marketing Christian Klinger (for reasons that the house says not related to past events) and the Italian Luca De Meo, former Fiat manager, becomes responsible for the Seat.
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