Volkswagen's CEO is leaving his post in a surprise move, effective September 1.
- post 职位
- effective 有效的；生效的
The company announced Friday that CEO Herbert Diess will be replaced by Oliver Blume, the head of Volkswagen's Porsche performance car division.
- performance car 性能车
- division 部门
Volkswagen, the world's second largest automaker, did not provide a reason for Diess' exit.
- automaker 汽车制造商
- exit 退出；离去
But a Reuters report citing unnamed sources said the Porsche and Piech families — who between them own a majority of the voting rights in Volkswagen — pressed for a change at the helm. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that report.
- cite 援引；引用
- a majority of 大部分
- press for 催促；迫切需要；迫切要求；催逼；敦促
- helm 舵柄；舵轮
It was a busy and challenging tenure for Diess. He took the reins at Volkswagen in 2018, in the wake of its "dieselgate" scandal that forced the company to pay massive US and European fines for deceptive emissions readings.
- tenure [ˈtenjə(r)] 任期
- take the reins 掌管；管权
- in the wake of 紧紧跟随；随着…而来；作为…的结果
- dieselgate 指大众集团汽车舞弊事件
- scandal [ˈskændl]丑行；使人震惊的丑事；丑闻
- pay fine 付罚款
- massive 巨大的
- deceptive 欺骗的
- emission 排放
Still, he was able to put that scandal mostly in the company's rearview mirror. And he focused on electric vehicles more than many established automakers, positioning Volkswagen for a major shift.
- readview mirror 后视镜 put sth in the rearview mirror 远离…；把…抛开；让…成为过去
- vehicle 车辆；汽车
- established 已确立的；已获确认的；确定的；著名的；成名的
- position for 使…处于…位置；最好…准备
- shift 转变
VW has said it will spend €89 billion over the next five years on developing EVs, about half of its planned spending in that time, and it's aiming for EVs to represent a quarter of sales by the end of 2026.
- VW 大众
- EV 电动汽车
- aim for 以…为目标
The number of battery EVs that VW sold nearly doubled in 2021 to nearly 453,000 globally, vaulting it to No. 3 behind only Tesla and General Motors in pure EVs sold — and most of the latter's sales came from a Chinese joint venture. VW outpaced all other automakers, including Tesla, in European EV sales at 310,000 vehicles.
- the number of …的数量
- vault [vɔːlt]跳跃，腾跃，把…抛起
- latter 后者
- joint venture 合资企业
- outpace 赶超
Tesla still sold more than twice as many pure EVs as VW did in 2021 — and EVs represented only 5% of the vehicles VW sold last year — but the shift in focus under Diess was important for the company's future plans.
- twice as many 两倍多
- shift in focus 重心转移
"Herbert Diess played a key role in advancing the transformation of the company. The group and its brands are viable for the future; its innovative capabilities and earning power are strengthened," Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of the company's board, said in a statement. "Not only did he steer the company through extremely turbulent waters, but he also implemented a fundamentally new strategy."
- play a key role 扮演重要角色；起重要作用
- advance 推进
- transformation 改革；转型
- viable for 可行的；可实施的；能独立发展的；能独立生存的
- innovative 创新的
- not only but 不仅而且
- steer through 驾驶（船）通过（狭窄处）；指导（某人）通过【渡过】
- turbulent [ˈtɜːbjələnt] 骚乱的；动荡的；汹涌的；混乱的；动乱的
- implement 贯彻；执行；实施
- fundamentally 从根本上说，基本上；根本上；完全地