More than a surprise, the appointment of Hans Dieter Poetsch as the new Volkswagen president is a confirmation. Volkswagen's supervisory board has, as expected, elected the former chief financial officer, Hans Dieter Poetsch as the new group president. The scandal of the souped-up cars has shaken the top management of Volkswagen: Poetsch replaces Ferdinand Piech, while Matthias Mueller has replaced the former CEO Martin Winterkorn.
The new president wasted no time in promising: “We will emerge stronger from the crisis through clarifications and transparency”. Meanwhile, the timetable for recalls of souped-up cars sold all over the world was also announced today. “This week – added Mueller – we will present our proposals to the DMV. If they are accepted we will order the new parts and if all goes as planned we will start the repairs in January”. Recalls of cars fitted with software to trick diesel engine emissions will begin in January 2016 and, according to the timetable, the "maintenance" will be completed by the end of next year.
Along with the recall of the new vehicles the new one will also bring a blood and tears plan for Volkswagen. This is a strong cost containment program, which will aim to safeguard jobs and which will concern various projects. Mueller spoke of painful cuts and revealed that the 6,5 billion euros set aside to meet the costs of the scandal are just a start.
