VW's top labor representative backs Diess as new CEO

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group's top labor representative, Bernd Osterloh, has backed the choice of Herbert Diess as the automaker's new CEO, as well as a move to prepare the truck business for a potential listing.

"We are convinced that, with Diess, we have the right man on board," works council chief Bernd Osterloh said in a letter to employees on Friday.

VW late on Thursday announced the appointment of Diess, after the group's board of directors ousted Matthias Mueller as CEO, in an overhaul of the company, which spans motorbikes, buses, trucks and passenger car brands including Ducati, Bentley, Porsche, Audi, Scania and Skoda.

Osterloh and Diess have clashed in the past. Osterloh accused Diess, who was hired as VW brand manager only three months before the diesel-emissions scandal broke, of betraying workers and trying to use the scandal as a pretext for pushing through job cuts.

"Back then, we were not immediately on the same page," Osterloh said in his letter. "But as is well known, that issue was laid to rest a long time ago."

Osterloh and Diess struck a deal in November 2016 on cost savings and job cuts via natural attrition.

The labor representative also said on Friday that the works councils of truck brands Scania and MAN supported VW's decision to prepare its truck and bus division for "capital market readiness" by making it a public limited company.