Editor? |? Jane (female name)
Produced? |? Bangning studio
For Audi ag, 65438+February 1 is a special day.
On this day, Audi faced a leadership crisis. Three sources told Reuters that Audi was holding an executive committee to discuss its CEO Herbert Diss? Diess) proposed to extend the contract.
But in the end, the Audi ag Executive Committee avoided discussing the renewal of Diss. According to the wire? Report? According to the report, the group of the Board of Supervisors ended its three-hour meeting, but did not put forward any suggestions to ease the internal tension caused by Indis's request for extension of the contract and wider reform of the company.
Anonymous sources familiar with the results of this meeting said that more talks are needed before the plenary meeting of the board of supervisors next week. In the next few days, the renewal of Diss and the selection of senior management positions will continue.
Diss' current term will end in 2023. Earlier, he ignored the opposition of trade union leaders and asked for an early extension of the contract period, hoping that everyone would vote of confidence in his reform efforts.
"The Executive Committee will not be forced to make any decision, and this decision does not need to be made in a hurry." A person familiar with the matter said when commenting on Diss's renewal request.
Audi declined to comment.
Diss left BMW on 20 15 and joined Audi ag. He is trying to lead Audi to reform and get rid of the influence of diesel valve. During this period, he launched a 73 billion euro (87 billion US dollars) electric vehicle investment plan.
Diss is increasingly disappointed because labor leaders have blocked his cost-cutting plan several times.
Three sources said that the Executive Committee of the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a meeting on June 5438+February 1 day. The Committee is led by Pan Shi and its members include Wolfgang Porsche (Wolfgang? Porsche) and Hans Piech (Hans? Michelle. Piech), they are all members of Audi's major shareholder family. In addition, there is Labour Party leader Bernd? Osterloh.
Porsche Automobile Holding Company (Porsche? SE) A spokesman said that the Porsche family will continue to support Diss. The company holds a majority of voting shares in Audi AG.
Analysts believe that this meeting of the Executive Committee of Audi AG highlights how difficult it is to reform the carmaker under such a board structure-labor representatives control half of the seats on the board of directors of the company and local politicians have 20% voting rights-which enables them to veto major strategic reform proposals.
165438+1On the evening of October 30, Arndt, an automotive analyst at Bernstein, an American investment bank? Ellinghorst released a report saying: "Audi AG has some of the most amazing and international brands, and it has the innovation ability as a pioneer. But at present, what it lacks is correct corporate governance. "
"Don't think this is an accident, this change will always lead to conflict. Whether there is a new CEO or not, the essence of the problem is the same. No matter who becomes the CEO, he must win the full support of the Porsche family, the largest shareholder of Audi AG. "
The current market value of Audi AG is 77.2 billion euros (US$ 92.4 billion), which is far lower than competitors Toyota's US$ 6,543.8+US$ 557 million and Tesla's US$ 555 billion.
Although in 20 19, Audi AG sold10.96 million cars, which is the highest-selling automobile manufacturer in the world. Toyota ranked second with/kloc-0.074 million vehicles, and Tesla, which ranked third, only sold 368,000 vehicles.
Analysts said that the reason for this result is the low efficiency and high cost of Audi ag. According to the statistics at the end of 20 19, Audi ag has 670,000 employees, Toyota has 360,000 employees and Tesla has 48,000 employees.
According to German practice, enterprises usually decide whether to extend the contract term of management committee members one year before the contract expires. But this time, after Osterloh, the trade union leader, blocked Diss' reform efforts, Diss forcibly extended the contract.
Three sources also revealed more details to Reuters. Union leaders' obstruction of Diss' reform efforts includes: Diss tried to get its ally Arnold? Antlitz is the chief financial officer of Audi ag, Thomas? Schmohl served as the Chief Procurement Officer of the Management Committee.
Antlitz, chief financial officer of Audi, had a conflict with powerful trade union leaders during his tenure as chief financial officer of Volkswagen's major automobile brands. He was transferred to Audi in March this year.
Two people familiar with the matter said that the union leaders insisted on not approving each appointment separately, but approving a harmonious "package solution". According to one of the three sources, Osterloh is also opposed to renewing the contract with Diss in advance.
A few days ago, Osterloh wrote in a post on LinkedIn: "I watched frankfurter allgemeine zeitung this morning. It says, "The Battle of Wolfsburg". It is said that there is controversy over the candidates for important positions on Audi's board of directors. I was very surprised. I don't know such an argument. No group has ever dealt with such a thing. "
"However, in any case, I always believe that in order to successfully promote the development of Audi AG with Herbert Dis in the next few years, when there are suitable candidates (or hypothetical candidates) who can create transformation in the next few years, the board of supervisors will make the right choice."
Osterloh is a response to Edith's article. 165438+1On October 27th, Diss published a column in Handelsblatt, Germany, and publicly expressed his disappointment. "When I took office in Wolfsburg, I was determined to change the system of Audi. This means breaking the old and rigid structure and making the company more flexible and modern. "
"Together with many colleagues who have the same desire, we have succeeded in doing this in many places, but we have not done it in some places, especially in the company headquarters in Wolfsburg." Edith wrote in the article.
According to Bloomberg, during the transformation of Audi AG, Diss entrusted an important task to Audi brand, allowing Audi to develop and enjoy software and electric vehicle parts for Audi AG's 12 brand.
This move directly puts the Audi brand at the forefront of the public's innovation ability. Diss believes that this is the key to breaking the encirclement of Tesla and other companies competing to launch battery-powered and self-driving cars.
Diss reorganized the top management this year, with the purpose of restoring Audi's technological advantages on the one hand and improving returns through strict cost control on the other. In the process, he proposed the next CFO of audi ag, but was blocked.
Before the tension appeared, Antelitz had discussed the future of Audi in a telephone interview. Audi will create a brand-new department, Auto. Software, will develop a universal operating system for Audi's brand. At the same time, Audi also set up a project team named Artemis, aiming at speeding up the research and development of automobiles and narrowing the technological gap with Tesla.
"Joint electric vehicle platform and digital system developed by Car. Software will be the main means to increase income. " Antlitz believes that the profit margin potential in this field has not been fully utilized.
By former Apple executive Alexander? The Artemis project team led by Hitzinger is developing a car code-named Landjet, which is an electric full-size crossover, larger than the Audi A8 and will be launched in 2024.
The above projects can complement the high-end car electric vehicle platform that Audi and Porsche are jointly developing, and the above technologies can also be used for smaller luxury brands such as Bentley.
E-tron became the best-selling luxury electric SUV, surpassing Tesla models? In the first three quarters of this year, the delivery volume was 30,000 vehicles. Analysts expect that the fourth quarter may be stronger.
Audi will add a more spacious e-tron version next year, and the GT coupe based on Porsche Taycan will also come out next year. In addition, a compact Q4? Electronic creation? This SUV will also be unveiled at 202 1, and it shares the platform with electric vehicles in the mass market.
How did Diss sail Audi ag into the future, how did he spend the biggest challenge in his career, and how did he reflect on his leadership style in the past five years and make appropriate adjustments?
The following is a long article published by Diss on LinkedIn, edited and published by Ning Studio, in order to get a glimpse of Diss's mental journey in the five years since he took charge of Audi ag.
0 1.
How to lead the public transformation
Audi AG is unique: a huge and highly complex group, it is a great challenge for any manager to take charge of Audi AG!
Only some facts and data can explain the size of Audi.
First, it sells more than 1 1 10,000 cars (including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and motorcycles) every year, owns 12 brands and employs 670,000 people.
Second, the two families (Piech family and Porsche family) hold more than 50% of the shares, and the federal government of Lower Saxony holds 20%.
Third, influential trade unions and shareholders with wide interests.
Ferdinand Piech? Pi? Ch), successive managers are constantly influenced and suppressed by the internal competitive atmosphere.
However, in this turbulent era, Audi AG's proud scale, history, brand value and unique expertise in the field of traditional automobile manufacturing cannot protect it from being affected. It may even become the fetters of its progress to some extent.
At present, the world's largest automobile manufacturer is undergoing the most extensive transformation in economic history. Successfully driving this tanker into the future is my biggest responsibility at Audi ag and the biggest challenge in my whole career!
At present, Audi AG's fleet carbon dioxide emissions account for about 1% of the world. Only from this point of view, we have a special responsibility in dealing with climate change.
My future goal is very clear-to lead Audi to a sustainable and successful future. With or without Audi, the transformation of the global automobile industry will take about 10 years. In order to slow down climate change, we must electrify the power system.
With the progress of artificial intelligence, especially in situational awareness, human drivers will soon be replaced by developing global neural networks. This will make personal travel sustainable, very safe and convenient.
In order to succeed in the new era and protect the interests of relevant personnel, including those outside Audi AG, such as our business partners and suppliers, Audi AG must be completely changed.
From a value brand aggregator, from a manufacturer that constantly achieves breakthroughs in fuel products with excellent engineering technology to attract customers, it has become a digital company that reliably operates millions of mobile vehicles around the world. Communicate with customers every week or preferably every day to improve service quality, comfort and safety.
02.
I started a thorough reflection five years ago.
As CEO, I think the crux of the problem lies in the mentality of the executive Committee team and managers who are content with the status quo: how to make this huge group and all stakeholders reflect on their previous views? Fundamentally change the focus, look down on the current prosperity, and strive to open up new capabilities.
We are not a start-up company-our structure and process have been gradually developed for decades, and now many old chapters are outdated and too complicated. Most importantly, our group has various interests and complicated policy agendas.
All this makes our already arduous challenge more difficult and complicated. However, any resistance can only spur us and urge us to forge ahead.
No matter when I first arrived at Audi ag five years ago or when the situation was urgent, we always lacked one thing-time.
Even so, Audi entered the market late in electrification and digitalization. This is why we should start to thoroughly reflect on our strategy five years ago and re-plan the new route in the future. In order to implement this new strategy in a broad sense, we must get the support of all managers and stakeholders.
From similar cases in the past, I have mastered an effective management tool-Professor Redmond Malik (Fredmund? Malik's synergetic integration theory.
Using this tool, participants can decompose the complex challenges of large and complex companies and solve them with key stakeholders. Managers and key stakeholders can analyze the situation together, discuss and decide a strategy together, and then bring it into the company and implement it.
I think Professor Malik's method is unique and effective. The following two examples can confirm this point.
03.
Transformation strategy in 2025
In the autumn of 20 15, I organized the first strategy seminar of Audi ag passenger car brand as soon as I took office. At that time, the diesel emission manipulation incident was exposed, and the meeting was forced to be postponed to 165438+ 10. In the end, the diesel emission scandal promoted and accelerated the transformation process.
In addition to the impact of the diesel scandal and the resulting billions of cost increases, Audi AG's core passenger car brand also has major problems-the model series is outdated (Latin America) or inappropriate (America) in some areas, and the profit rate is less than 2%-and such profits are not even enough to support our current business, let alone our key investment in the future.
The status quo must change!
Forty-two executives of Audi ag brand attended the seminar in October15+01June. Professor Malik always starts with open questions. In this example, the open question is: "What should we do in the next three to six months to use this crisis as a launching pad for future new cars?"
In order to answer this question best, the executives held meetings in different groups. Professor Malik explained that grouping is to maximize the collective wisdom of participants. Different from the traditional method, this method allows everyone to play their best level, not the least common divisor.
This seminar paved the way for the "New Audi ag 2025 Transformation Strategy".
Looking back five years later, few seminars have formulated so many measures that they can be implemented consistently like this case. One of the key measures is that we don't want to use MQB modular platform for electric vehicles. Our plan is to create a dedicated power platform to maximize the advantages of electricity.
Therefore, only next year, we will launch five brands of 10 models based on the modular power system platform (MEB), and Ford will also produce a model on this platform. We have also developed an electrical architecture with only a few central computers-which can be updated and directly accessed by customers-and will be launched together with electric vehicles.
In order to increase income and pay the cost of electrification transformation, we have implemented various transformation plans all over the world, each of which includes measures to improve efficiency and stimulate growth through the emergence of new products.
In general, Audi decided to focus more on the SUV field with significantly higher profits. In the SUV market, Audi AG has many places to catch up with its main competitors.
We decentralized the hierarchy in Wolfsburg. We reorganize the vehicle series with a more modern development process structure to eliminate the bottleneck that hinders product decision-making. These regional transformations have been given more space to make decisions faster and closer to the local market.
We signed a "future contract" (Pact? For what? That? In the future), so that we can reduce the size of the labor force according to demographic factors-instead of severe layoffs-and then reduce fixed costs sustainably.
"New Audi ag 2025 Transformation Strategy" is divided into three stages. At present, the first phase has ended, the core brand has returned to profitability, and the first electric, fully networked and sustainable car ID.3 has been launched.
Our current climate goal is more ambitious, and this goal is also accelerating the transformation process. New competitors with IT business capabilities, such as Tesla, are keeping pace with the changes and setting new standards.
04.
"T Mission" catches up with Tesla
We need to adjust Audi's strategy to keep up with these new competitors. In view of this, we organized the second seminar with Professor Malik in April 2020. 3 1 executives from Audi ag, Audi and Porsche participated in this activity called "T Task".
The activity revolves around how to catch up with Tesla, a company that focuses on the future and has no traditional automobile business. Tesla's Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem is influenced by software capabilities, technical concerns and risk culture. This seminar lasted more than three days. Due to the limitation of COVID-19 epidemic, the meeting needs masks and social distance.
The open question this time is: "If we want to catch up with Tesla in technology by 2024, what goals do we need to achieve in the next six months?"
The answer we have found is to improve the software capability at a faster speed. In Marcus Duzman (Marcus? Duesmann, CEO of Audi, cooperated with Artemis project to integrate Audi's software and hardware resources. Artemis project is a high-tech project plan established by Audi.
Why do we need new organizational units? When introducing MEB, vehicle series and software organization, we realized that the company structure made it impossible for us to compete with the development speed and ability of well-funded and non-bureaucratic start-ups like Tesla, because we were more likely to take risks.
The new organizational structure was launched in June (2020) 10, which left a decisive and capable impression at the first Audi ag management meeting-this was also the goal we set at the collaborative integration meeting with Professor Malik in April.
I am sure that we will successfully achieve the goal of this year's Malik seminar as we did last year. The influence and significance of this guiding principle on successful results is immeasurable. The meeting formed a * * * consensus on the status quo, as well as a * * * consensus plan, a * * consensus agreement and commitments-all of which are necessary conditions for successful implementation, especially in a complex entity like Audi AG.
Artemis project and software department are the foundation of our technology, especially digital technology, and are the common demand of the whole group. These plans will turn cars into digital mobile tools, provide unprecedented new choices for travel customers, and be safe, comfortable and sustainable.
05.
Adjust leadership style
In the process of transformation, Audi's corporate culture is another crucial aspect. When I took office in Wolfsburg, I made up my mind to change the Audi ag system. I mean to break the old structure and make the company more flexible and modern.
Thanks to the support of many equally active colleagues around me, I have successfully done this in many fields. However, in other fields, especially in some areas of Wolfsburg company headquarters, the effect is not very good.
In my career, my personality (straightforward temperament, often confronting people) and my straightforward way have brought many changes and achieved positive results. Some of these changes are crucial for these companies, just like the case of Audi mentioned above.
Of course, I also reflected on my leadership style in Audi ag for five years and made appropriate adjustments. Those experienced executives who are familiar with the Wolfsburg system now have more responsibilities-such as Gunnar? Killian? Ralph. Brandest? Tell, Thomas? Schmohl? With Christian? Vollmer, they know how Wolfsburg works. Their style of doing things is not so sharp, but comprehensive everywhere.
Speaking of the future of cars, it's really exciting and charming. In about 10 years, we will have self-driving cars. This is a huge new field, which will inevitably give birth to a lot of new opportunities. For example, autonomous driving can provide a new dimension for children and patients who lack self-care ability.
For many companies, the process of achieving this goal will be full of challenges. Of course, so is Audi AG. However, I believe that leading this change is a valuable work and we can succeed. We should regard this change as an opportunity.
10 years later, the most valuable company in the world will be the mobile travel company.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.