Volkswagen investors are raising the pressure on Oliver Blume to give up his dual role as chief executive at Porsche and its parent company, as Europe’s largest carmaker faces its biggest crisis in decades.
“How can he do both jobs in the right way when the automotive industry is in a structural crisis?” asked Ingo Speich, head of corporate governance at Deka Investment, which is among the 15 largest holders of VW’s preference shares.
Hendrik Schmidt, corporate governance expert at DWS that holds about 2 per cent of VW preference shares, said the crisis showed the unusual leadership structure was “only acceptable for a temporary period”.