A wounded, embarrassed VW will fall back, take stock, focus inward, and move forward from the Dieselgate scandal. Right?
Wrong. VW plans to increase its ambitions in the face of disaster. Yes, you read that right.
Our competitors are waiting for us to fall behind technologically, because we are spending all our time focusing on ourselves. But we aren’t going to do them that favour. — new VW chief executive Matthias Mueller
When some companies would crouch to avoid the missiles and barbs of the press, public and governments, according to the BBC, VW is instead redoubling efforts to increase its lead on Toyota in worldwide car sales.
Speaking to 400 top VW managers in Leipzig about how to deal with the enormous costs of the scandal, Mr Mueller made a number of startling announcements:
- no brands would be sold off
- innovation would be boosted
- and overall VW would become more ambitious globally rather than less
What this means in practice is a billion euros (£735m; $1.1bn) in spending cuts annually on the one hand, and more innovation, particularly in electric cars, on the other. Plus a completely new corporate culture which allows more creativity and questioning rather than autocratic top-down decision-making.
