The 54-year-old graduated from high school in Braunschweig and studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University there – he also did his doctorate in the subject. Blume knows the VW Group and its various brands very well. He started as a trainee at Audi in 1994, where he worked his way up. After a stint at Seat, he ended up as head of production planning at the Volkswagen brand in 2009.
In 2013, Blume was appointed to the board of directors of the sports car subsidiary Porsche in Stuttgart. There he was initially responsible for the areas of production and logistics before becoming CEO in 2015. Blume geared Porsche towards electromobility early on and planned billions for it, but continued to reliably deliver profits – Porsche is one of the most profitable brands in the group. The Taycan electric sports car came onto the market comparatively early. Blume completely removed the problematic diesel drive from the program.
In 2030, the sports car manufacturer wants to sell 80 percent of its cars as pure battery models. When it comes to the software for future cars, Blume recently refused to be forced into the VW group corset so that new models with specially developed software can come onto the market earlier.
“I am very pleased to lead Porsche AG and the Volkswagen Group together,” said Blume according to the announcement. His focus is on customers, brands and products. Blume had been behind the scenes for a long time as a possible successor to CEO Herbert Diess. The sports car manufacturer is to go public this year – and in parts also directly into the hands of the owner families. It could be one of the largest IPOs in recent times in Germany.
Image source: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa