Christian Strenger, an outspoken Volkswagen critic and a former member of the commission who wrote Germany’s corporate governance code, sees little chance that the company’s invigilators will expose themselves to further investigation. The board has only one member out of 20 who is not a representative of the three major shareholders or Volkswagen employees.
“Nothing will change as long as the old guard is there,” he said. Stricter said.
The diesel scandal remains a financial burden. The company announced in its annual report this week that possible liabilities from lawsuits, such as one by shareholders who claim that the company is misleading, could cost 4.2 billion euros, or $ 5 billion. This is in addition to the tens of billions of euros that Volkswagen has already paid fines and settlements since 2017, after admitting that it has programmed diesel cars to deliver lower emissions in test conditions than in normal use.
Investors this week are focusing on Volkswagen’s future rather than the past.
In a series of appearances starting Monday, Mr. Diess and other drivers a €35 billion plans to build six battery factories, install a global network of charging stations and hire 10,000 software engineers to work on autonomous management and other new technologies. Volkswagen is becoming the largest software company in Europe next to SAP, the German manufacturer of software used by companies to manage functions such as logistics and finance.
Volkswagen’s voting shares traded 20% in Frankfurt this week and have risen 75% since December, despite the company reporting a 37% drop in net profit for 2020 after pandemic sales. Since 2015, the stock has more than tripled.
Volkswagen has also benefited from a report released this month by analysts at UBS, the Swiss bank, which considers it the traditional carmaker best placed to compete with Tesla because it already has the ability to drive electric cars economically manufactured.
Volkswagen’s advantage dates back to the decision taken at the meeting in 2015, weeks after the emissions scandal became known.
The drivers approved the development for the collection of mix-and-match components that would be the basis for a range of electric models, including sedans, SUVs and vans. The standardized platform, called the Modular Electrification Toolbox, can also be used by other brands, including Audi.