Volkswagen: The new boss prefers synthetic petrol to electric

After 4 years at the helm of the German manufacturer Volkswagen, Herbert Diess is giving up his apron. It is the current CEO of Porsche who will have the difficult task of succeeding him. In addition to the change in leadership, Volkswagen’s strategy in particular could change completely. If Herbert Diess was a fervent advocate of electric propulsion, Olivier Blume never hid his attraction to synthetic gasoline.

The departure has been expected for weeks Herbert Diess The current CEO of the Volkswagen Group is now official. CEO since 2018, he decided to give his chair to another big name in the automotive industry, namely Oliver Blume. The latter is none other than that Current CEO of Porsche. It is currently unknown if he will merge the two positions or step down from Porshe. The only certainty we currently have is that this change of direction will not go unnoticed.

Coming back to Herbert Diess’ career, he was credited with getting the group out of Dieselgate. During his presidency, the group also saw its new 100% electric range consisting of 3 models and record sales. Not everything was rosy for him as he had to face some obstacles. The most noticeable are the delays in the launches. In addition, relations with unions and shareholders have not always been very friendly. So Olivier Blume will have his hands full and logically he will be expected at the turning point to be a continuation of his predecessor or a break.

Olivier Blume is more fascinated by renewable fuels than electric

Unlike Herbert Diess, who has always represented his position on electronics with a certain openness, Olivier Blume remains vague. During his time at Porsche it supported synthetic gasoline. While his counterpart at Volkswagen was a fervent supporter of the model developed by Tesla, he didn’t hesitate to challenge the ID Aero.

The fact that Porsche is currently investing so much in regenerative fuel is partly due to Olivier Blume. Next to, Porsche has invested nearly $75 billion on this fuel made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. That doesn’t mean that the new Volkswagen boss is against the switch to electric. On the contrary: with his participation in the market launch of the Taycan and soon also the Cayenne and the Macan, Olivier Blume shows that he can support 100% electric projects. It is therefore difficult to predict the strategy that the new management will pursue. But at least we know that the new boss has a serious alternative to electric.