With Volkswagen still mired in the worst crisis of its brand's history, CEO Matthias Mueller isn't only trying to right the company's wrongs ... he's attempting a complete culture change.
According to the Wall Street Journal, part of Mueller's overhaul includes faster decision making. Another includes tabbing new employees from fellow automakers.
The publication reveals that Mueller's new strategy chief is Thomas Sedran, who formerly worked at Adam Opel, the German division of General Motors, adding that he was significant in crafting survival plans during GM's well-publicized bankruptcy bout.
For his digital chief, Mueller looked toward Apple and poached Johann Jungwirth. The engineer was a researcher with Mercedes-Benz before joining Apple's special projects unit, with sources even telling the Journal that he worked on the AppleCar project.
The results of these key hires, as well as Mueller cutting down the amount of execs answering to him by nearly 50 percent to a reported 17 people, is faster decision-making. VW needs just that to drive out of the trudge of its emissions scandal and into a healthy future.
Already, those in the company have noticed dramatic change since Mueller took over last fall.
"The difference is like night and day," Andreas Renschler, a VW board member formerly with Daimler AG, told the Journal. "We all realize that the crisis gives us a huge opportunity to change the company."
Added VW's chief designer Klaus Bischoff: "There is no more hemming and hawing. They make decisions, we are moving faster."
Michael Horn, VW's president and chief executive, additionally told the media outlet that he used to wait for months to get responses, but now has Mueller's cell phone number and calls when needed.
It's good that the embattled automaker is moving as a well-oiled machine, because it has plenty of work in front of it.
Although the recall to fix 8.5 million faulty diesel vehicles in Europe has been underway, the automaker has yet to come up with a proposal for the nearly 600,000 affected vehicles in the United States, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) having both rejected its plan for such a massive fix just last month.
VW has plenty of work ahead of it.
