BERLIN — Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said at an extraordinary general meeting on Friday that the group was on solid footing, with his first hundred days spent on tasks including reshuffling senior roles, defining the automaker’s strategy for China and North America, and revising its software and platform strategy.
“We are working on a globally balanced presence – in Europe, China and a strong third leg of North America,” Blume said, pointing to the need to diversify in light of geopolitical tensions.
A decision on the location of a planned battery plant in Eastern Europe, expected this year but which the carmaker said last week was postponed, would come “soon,” Blume said.
Shareholders gathered in Berlin to vote at the extraordinary general meeting on the payout of a special dividend of 19.06 euros ($20.28) per share from the proceeds of the Porsche listing.
A total of 9.6 billion euros, or 49 percent of the proceeds of the listing, will be paid out in January if shareholders vote in favor, as is widely expected.
In a speech published ahead of the meeting, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said the rise in the valuation of Porsche on the stock market since the listing proved the brand’s worth but that VW’s potential must also now be proven to markets.
“Making the real value of Porsche visible was important. But through this it has also become clear that the current valuation of Volkswagen is imbalanced. We want to change that.”
VW shareholder DWS, which holds around 2 percent of the automaker’s stock, according to Eikon data, pointed to the governance issues they and other investors highlighted ahead of the listing, including Oliver Blume’s dual role as CEO of Porsche and VW, as factors dragging down the automaker’s valuation.
