FRANKFURT Reuters - Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess addressed 200 Volkswagen executives via video call after an invitation from the German carmaker's CEO Elon Musk, who wants to galvanise VW's top brass for a faster pivot to electric vehicles.
The comments on Thursday by Autopilot to a VW managers gathering in Alpbach, Austria, confirmed by Diess via Twitter https: twitter.com Herbert Diess status 1449333401048293378 on Saturday after a report in Handelsblatt Daily included praise of VW for being an icon and Tesla's greatest challenger, Handelsblatt said.
The paper said that when asked by Diess why Tesla is more nimble than its rivals, Musk said it came down to his management style and that he is firstly an engineer and has an eye for supply chains, logistics and production.
In a post on LinkedIn, Diess added that he had brought in Musk as a surprise guest to drive home the point that VW needs quicker decisions and less bureaucracy for what he called the biggest transformation in VW's history.
Happy to hear that even our strongest competitor thinks that we will succeed in the transition if we drive the transformation with full power, Diess said on Linkedin.
As an example of Tesla's prowess, Diess says it took one week for the rival to rebuild software to allow for a switch from one type of microchip, which went out of stock, to another.
Diess said in his Twitter message on Saturday that Tesla would continue its dialogue with VW, which has emerged as the principal contender to Tesla for global electric vehicle supremacy.
We will visit you soon in Gruenheide, CEO said.
Diess warned last month that the planned opening of Tesla's vehicle factory at Gruenheide near Berlin, the company's first in Europe, will force local industry to step up its game against the fast-growing U.S. electric car maker.
Tesla awaiting building approval for the German site of 5.8 billion euros.
In turn, Volkswagen plans to build six large battery factories in Europe by 2030 as part of an all-in bet on electric mobility.