The Volkswagen Group has announced that the Lamborghini and Ducati brands will remain under the VW umbrella, following a vote by the group’s supervisory board. The announcement has also confirmed that Bentley will be moved under the Audi’s control beginning March 1, 2021.
The supervisory board vote is part of the VW Group’s restructuring process to realign itself towards its electrification, laid out in the Together 2025+ strategy proposed by CEO Herbert Diess.
This news comes after months of speculations and rumours that Volkswagen is looking to jettison the Lamborghini and Ducati brands, alongside the sale of Bugatti to EV hypercar maker Rimac – there was no mention of the latter in the announcement following the supervisory board meeting.
According to a report by Reuters earlier this month, Diess has effectively forced a vote of confidence in himself in order to extend his contract beyond 2023, and push through the Together 2025+ strategy. Although there is no confirmation as of writing in regard to Diess’ contract, the board has “unanimously resolved to give its full support to the strategy in particular the orientation of the company towards electromobility and digitalisation”, the press release writes.
The announcement has also confirmed some of Diess’ key such as confirming Dr Arno Arlitz as the new chief financial officer, replacing Frank Witter. A new board of management role, titled “Technology” has also been announced, which will be headed by current VW Group Components CEO Thomas Schmall.
Following the new role, the Group’s Components and Procurement responsibilities will be separated from each other, the latter will be led by Murat Aksel. Volkswagen says that this move will allow the group to reduce fixed costs by 5% by 2023, while the material costs are to be reduced by 7% in the next two years.
The announcement also confirmed that the group’s headquarters in Wolfsburg will become the electric factory hub for Volkswagen. To that end, a project similar to Audi’s Artemis Project will be set up at the site to increase efficiencies during the R&D stages.
