At its annual shareholder meeting, Volkswagen has vowed to shore up its internal systems and processes in order to prevent a repeat of the diesel emissions crisis amid rumbles of discontent from some shareholders.
Bloomberg reports that some institutional and minority investors are taking a rare public stand at the gathering in Hannover to grill VW Group management over their handling of the crisis.
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Volkswagen’s board of directors has proposed that the assembled shareholders vote to approve the work of the management team. Porsche, the holding company that controls a majority of voting rights, has said it will back the proposal.
VW Group CEO Matthias Müller told shareholders that the main thing now was to find good solutions for customers, systematically investigate how the [diesel emissions] situation could have happened in the first place and, looking forward, to learn from past mistakes and do the right things in the future. The CEO added: “What’s done cannot be undone. But what does lie in our power is ensuring we act in a responsible manner. This is our commitment to you. What unites all of us with a role to play here at Volkswagen – whether it be the Supervisory Board, Board of Management, executives, employee representatives or workers – is the desire to do everything we can to win back trust.”
He also stressed the great significance of compliance and integrity for the future of the Group: “What our experience over the last few months has shown is that long-term success is only possible where law-abiding and value-driven behavior forms the basis for our daily actions and decision-making. This principle must and will be anchored more firmly throughout the Group and, even more importantly, be put into practice on a daily basis.” The goal is to make Volkswagen a model of how ‘Integrity & Legal Affairs’ should be implemented in a modern, transparent and successful company. “In doing so, we are also mindful of the fact that not everything that is legal is also correct,” Müller said.
Müller also presented the company’s latest strategy to 2025.
See also: Volkswagen’s steady hand on the tiller – Comment
