HAMBURG — Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess will stay on in the role, the company said on Thursday, ending weeks of uncertainty about his future as the automaker updated a five-year plan that sees spending on electric cars rising by about a half.
VW Group’s supervisory board presented its annual update to the company’s five-year investment plan, outlining investments of 159 billion euros ($180 billion) and involving electrifying more of VW’s sites across Europe.
Spending for EVs will be raised by about 50 percent to nearly $59 billion.
VW Group also confirmed it expected its operating margin to be at the upper end of its 6 percent to 7.5 percent target range for 2021.
Diess also will take on responsibility for the company’s software unit Cariad.
Diess’s future had been in doubt following clashes with VW’s powerful labor unions.
“We have made important decisions and found good answers to make Volkswagen fit for the future,” supervisory board Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said in a press conference following the announcements.
Diess said: “I cannot complain about a lack of responsibilities — I continue to feel fully responsible for the company.”
