A Surprise Switch at the VW Top, and Lots of Work for a New CEO

摘要

Word of the surprise management shakeup at Volkswagen AG arrived in a press release that bore the telltale signs of haste. No replacement was named for Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller, and it wasn't even clear he was being removed.Investors were only told of unspecified developments that "could also include a change" in the CEO's position, and that Mueller was generally willing to go along. Now that Bloomberg News and others have reported that Mueller will be replaced by Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess, the next question is why now?Mueller has done a solid job of steering the world's largest automaker out of the diesel-cheating crisis: profit is up, the stock's rebounded to its pre-crisis level, and the carmaker is well under way to start offering a suite of electric and self-driving cars. It's also creating a separate brand, Moia, to develop new services like ride-sharing apps.