“The latest geopolitical changes and increased block-building have been exposing our global vulnerability, particularly with regards to the U.S.,” Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess stated in a LinkedIn put up.
Diess didn’t specify which political occasions he was referring to, however carmakers have been hit laborious by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Western sanctions pushed up the value of power and uncooked supplies.
This has raised considerations over how the automaking trade would cope if escalating tensions with China additionally led to financial measures.
Volkswagen warned final week that it was feeling the affect of rising costs and provide chain bottlenecks, with deliveries in March down 37.3% from final yr.
A scarcity of wire harnesses produced in Ukraine delayed the launch of its electrical ID.5 from April to May, and on-and-off lockdowns in China are hampering output at a time when the carmaker is making an attempt to drive up electrical automobile gross sales within the nation.
Mercedes-Benz Chief Technology Officer Markus Schaefer stated final week that the German carmaker was additionally tightening its provide chains in mild of worldwide bottlenecks.
Volkswagen’s Diess stated the board noticed boosting its China enterprise, rising software program division Cariad and reorganising its steering mannequin as essentially the most urgent points dealing with the carmaker.
China accounts for round 40% of Volkswagen’s gross sales however the carmaker is much behind native rivals within the electrical automobile market, simply lacking its goal of promoting 80,000 to 100,000 electrical automobiles within the nation final yr.
Volkswagen will launch extra particulars in coming weeks on precisely how duties will probably be divided up, Diess stated.
“Our competitors are no longer called Mercedes-Benz, Toyota Motor Corporation or Stellantis, but Tesla, Foxconn, Apple, LG Electronics, Uber etc,” Diess stated.
Diess first introduced a reshuffling of duties at Volkswagen final December, after weeks of clashes between the CEO and labour unions over his management.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”