Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess’ friendly attitude towards Tesla and Ma Yilong, even “praising” them, is relatively rare among traditional fuel-based car companies.
However, according to recent reports by foreign media Electrek, the establishment of a friendly relationship between Ma Yilong and Diess dates back to when Diess was still working at BMW. At that time, BMW’s competitor was Mercedes-Benz, and Diess himself was a “supporter of electric vehicles”. The two of them may have already had a bond in 2014.
Ma Yilong attempted to hire Diess as Tesla’s CEO in 2015. At that time, Diess had just lost in the competition for BMW’s CEO position and had even received the appointment letter from Tesla.
It is still unknown why Diess chose Volkswagen. However, Ma Yilong apparently does not like the position of Tesla’s CEO very much. Since 2008, Tesla has been looking for a “good enough” CEO candidate to replace Ma Yilong. But so far, except for Diess, it seems that no one has been as recognized by Ma Yilong.
🔗 Source: Electrek
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.