It is his first appearance as the new head of Volkswagen.

And Oliver Blume, 54 years old, is clearly trying to get to the heart of his ideas for the direction of Europe's largest car company.

The basic course towards electric cars will not be shaken, he said on Thursday in front of 500 managers at VW's Global Top Management Conference (GTMC) in Lisbon.

"We will maintain the current pace and, where possible, increase it." The future belongs to electric drive technology, he emphasizes.

"I'm a fan of e-mobility and I also stand by this path through my work at Porsche."

Christian Muessgens

Business correspondent in Hamburg.

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Blume took over as CEO from his predecessor Herbert Diess this Thursday.

He will also head the sports car subsidiary Porsche, for which an official decision to go public is due in the next few days.

Although Diess and Blume recently crossed paths in many areas, especially in software development, he expressly praises the former boss.

"The Group Board of Management headed by Herbert Diess has done a good job strategically and technologically."

Blume is a team player

At the same time, he makes it clear that he wants to lead differently than his erratic predecessor.

With his divisive, unpredictable manner, he increasingly pushed himself aside and finally lost the support of the Porsche and Piech shareholder families.

Blume makes it clear: "Success is always the performance of a strong team." For him, "teamwork, focus and implementation are paramount".

The new leadership with him at the helm must now deliver, "in the interests of our customers, our investors and the entire Volkswagen team."

Blume leaves no doubt that times are extremely challenging.

The key message is that the auto industry is experiencing the greatest transformation in its history.

More will change in the next five years than in the past 50 years combined.

This transformation creates a "high dynamic".

At the same time, stability is necessary in order to be able to implement the transformation well.

“We have to find the right rhythm here.

A clear strategy, implement it consistently and review the course at appropriate times.”

With a view to the brands, he wants to continue on the path he has taken of shifting more competencies from the Wolfsburg headquarters to Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Co.

The group stands for “the management of strong brands with attractive products”.

He will only be as successful as “his fantastic brands are”.

Blume wants to manage the company according to five basic principles, as he made clear in his speech.

It's about brands, products, people, entrepreneurship and sustainability.

Reorganization of the Cariad software division

The group, with its 670,000 employees, is in the midst of the global crises and at the same time undergoing far-reaching restructuring, which Blume now has to continue.

He initially avoids making specific statements about areas such as the software, probably also because a number of details for the reorganization of the Cariad division responsible are still pending.

The only thing that is clear is that, like Diess, he wants to personally assume responsibility for software development in the group on the board.

The FAZ was the first to report on this.

VW is also moving away from the goal of developing the vast majority of the programs without the help of partners.

Blume spoke only roughly of a ten-point plan that he had developed for the content-related construction sites in the group.

The FAZ had also reported on this in advance.

The plan is intended to clarify priorities and prevent the new leadership from getting bogged down on too many construction sites.

"With these concrete programs, which are controlled by the Group's Executive Board, the team will be able to hit the ground running from day one and achieve success quickly." the capital market.

Controversy over exchange with Lindner

Not long after his appointment was announced six weeks ago, Blume had experienced a first communications breakdown.

After it was leaked that he had discussed a strategy for e-fuels with Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) – possibly too closely – he had to apologize publicly.

"I think it is imperative that there is a professional exchange," he said in an interview with the "Braunschweiger Zeitung".

“But one thing is clear: at no time did we influence the coalition agreement.

We campaigned for synthetic fuels and thus for climate protection - and held technical discussions with various parties."

With regard to e-fuels, there had recently been further irritation.

Because there was the question of whether Blume's repeated commitments to this technology represent a departure from the strategy towards fully electric vehicles, which his predecessor Diess pushed.

The synthetic and thus environmentally friendly produced fuels are a supplement, he now clarified.

"Within the Volkswagen Group, e-fuels remain a priority for Porsche." In the sports car business, the question of the future of combustion technology is particularly relevant, also because customers associate it with agility and driving power.