Herbert Diess, the CEO of the German automaker Volkswagen, is stepping down, the company announced Friday.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said Diess, who took over as CEO in 2018, will depart Sept. 1 "by mutual consent" with the board. His contract was set to expire in 2025.
Diess presided over the automaker at a time of significant change in the industry, including a shift toward producing more electric vehicles. In Chattanooga, Volkswagen of America has begun production of its ID.4 all-electric sports utility vehicle following an $800 million expansion that is adding 1,000 jobs at VW's only U.S. assembly plant.
Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of Volkswagen's supervisory board, thanked Diess in a statement issued Friday. Potsch praised Diess's role in "advancing the transformation of the company."
"Not only did he steer the company through extremely turbulent waters, but he also implemented a fundamentally new strategy," Pötsch said.
Oliver Blume, who is now CEO of Porsche, will succeed Diess. Volkswagen also said the company's chief financial officer, Arno Antlitz, will become the new chief operating officer.
Volkswagen announced the pending departure of Diess three days after the auto maker said it is changing the leader of VW of America. Pablo Di Si, the executive chairman of Volkswagen's South American Region, is succeeding Scottt Keogh as president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America and chief of Volkswagen's North American Region. Keogh has been named to head the new Scout division on Sept. 1.