Susanne Wiegand steps down from Volkswagen's supervisory board after just one year
Susanne Wiegand, the former CEO of tank-gearbox maker Renk, abruptly pulled her re-election bid to Volkswagen's supervisory board on Thursday, depriving the board of a rare independent industrial voice as the carmaker confronts falling earnings and US tariff fallout.
Exit at the shareholder meeting
Volkswagen's virtual annual general meeting in Munich took an unexpected turn when chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch announced that Susanne Wiegand had withdrawn her candidacy for re-election to the supervisory board at short notice. The 54-year-old joined the panel only in 2025 as a replacement member and was set to be confirmed for a full term running until 2031. Her mandate will now expire at the end of today's meeting.
She withdrew her candidacy for re-election to the board at short notice.
A rare independent industrial expert
Wiegand was appointed last year as an independent representative on the capital side, filling a vacuum that investors and governance experts have long criticised. Prior to Volkswagen she led Augsburg-based Renk, a manufacturer of tank transmissions, and oversaw the company's initial public offering. She also sits on the German Corporate Governance Code Commission. Her arrival was widely interpreted as a signal that the automaker intended to professionalise its oversight. With her departure, the board loses one of the few shareholder-side members with direct operational experience in industry.
Restructuring pressure on the carmaker
Wiegand's resignation coincides with a period of deep upheaval at Europe's largest carmaker. Volkswagen is grappling with declining earnings, intensifying competition in China and the impact of US tariffs. Key decisions on the company's future direction are expected in the coming weeks. In this climate, losing a board member perceived as independent removes a counterweight to the influence of the Porsche and Piëch families, the state of Lower Saxony and Qatar, who dominate the capital side.
Nomination committee to meet soon
A spokesman for the supervisory board told Handelsblatt that the nomination committee will now convene to discuss a successor.
The committee will now meet "soon" to decide on a successor.
No timetable was given for the process. The abrupt change leaves the board scrambling to fill a position that had been carefully built up as a symbol of more rigorous governance.
