VW Needs Outsider CEO, Says Likely Head of Key Shareholder

Volkswagen AG should find an outside to be its CEO, says the German politician likely to become head of Lower Saxony, which controls 20% of the company’s voting rights.

Bernd Althusmann tells Reuters VW needs a leader who is “completely unstressed by all conceivable automobile scandals but who sill has an affinity towards this important industry.”

Althusmann is expected to be elected in October to replace Stefan Weil as premier of Lower Saxony. As such he would gain a seat on VW supervisory board, a group he tells Reuters must “act much more professionally.”

Weil has faced sharp criticism for allowing VW to review a speech he later made about the company’s diesel emission cheating scandal.

VW has for years chosen virtually all members of its leadership team from within. Current CEO Matthias Mueller, whose contract will expire in 2020, said earlier this year the company is likely to follow that practice when he is replaced.

Critics say the lack of outsiders contributed to the diesel crisis and created the autocratic bureaucracy that VW is now trying to dismantle for the sake of achieving greater business flexibility and speed.