Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Need “precise controls”
E-drive makes more manipulation possible
Dieselgate was the low point for Volkswagen. It is a fallacy, however, that increasing e-mobility will prevent scandals in the future. “The diesel problem was a software problem,” says the outgoing VW board member Hiltrud Werner ntv. “There is much, much more software in the vehicles of the future.”
In order to rule out manipulation of electric vehicles, tight controls are still necessary at Volkswagen. “The vehicles of the future contain much, much more software. And the diesel problem was a software problem,” says the outgoing VW board member Hiltrud Werner in an interview with ntv.
Werner has been responsible for the “Integrity and Law” department for almost five years and, among other things, is responsible for ensuring that the diesel scandal does not repeat itself. In the case of ultra-modern vehicles, “the levers on which we have to introduce very precise controls have also increased significantly,” said the VW top manager.
The VW organization has learned a lot from the problems surrounding the software manipulation. “We have now anchored the root cause analysis process as a continuous improvement process in all parts of the company,” says Werner, who is leaving Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer in February.
The change that has been initiated is sustainable. Volkswagen will not change back, “because far too many people now really want to and continue to live the open discussion culture and the anchoring of integrity and compliance in their everyday work.”
“Mixed teams are stronger”
Werner, who to date is the only female board member on the VW group board, advocates a quota for women on board committees. She sees “that some men have to be forced to be happy”. Mixed teams are stronger.
Werner has not yet decided on her professional future. There are “an unbelievable number of exciting tasks, especially on the international stage”. First of all, she is concentrating on her chairmanship of the supervisory board of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG. “I owe a lot to my very good training in East Germany and now I want to give something back to East Germany as well.”