Five modules of the TOGETHER 2025+ strategy
Our TOGETHER 2025+ Group strategy comprises consistent strategic decisions and specific modules aimed at safeguarding the long-term future of the Group and generating profitable growth.
These modules are namely Best Governance, Best Performance, Best Brand Equity, Software-enabled Car Company and Excellent Leadership. We continuously review the status and progress of these initiatives in order to analyze the target achievement, importance and suitability of the measures defined. This enables us to tailor these modules to the transformation underway within our Company.
In the Best Governance module, we are working to create a focused, streamlined corporate structure to manage the brands, continually leverage synergies and accelerate decision-making processes. We want the Group to be perceived as efficiently managed, trustworthy, sustainable and transparent. To this end, we are intensifying the dialog with our key stakeholders and systematically reviewing whether we are still the best owner for our various brands and companies. We also want our CO2 targets to be measurable and our progress toward CO2 neutrality in 2050 to be transparent. We will strive to establish a leading position in our industry in international ESG rankings – specifically in the fields of environment, social issues and governance – in the future.
The aim of the Best Performance module is to achieve a sustainable increase in our enterprise value by increasing efficiency, productivity and profitability. As a global company, our size enables us to make increased use of economies of scale. We remain firmly committed to our ambitious targets, work consistently on achieving them and strive to exceed them. This will lay the foundations for extensive investment in our Company, in our employees and in mobility for present and future generations.
In the Best Brand Equity module, the focus is on realigning and refining the brand portfolio to enable a significant increase in the value of our Group brands. We are defining the profiles, brand missions and core competitors of the Volkswagen Group brands in a more nuanced and distinctive way. This will enable the Group to better serve the market as a whole. Based on these optimizations, we will decide on the future design, product portfolio and services of each Group brand – using the needs of our customers as a starting point.
In the Software-enabled Car Company module, we are working to make software development one of the Volkswagen Group’s core competencies. To achieve this, we are pooling existing expertise, substantially strengthening our resources and establishing a dedicated organizational unit. Going forward, all new vehicle models across the Group will be based on our own cross-brand software platform. This approach will provide the opportunity to leverage synergies between the individual brands and vehicle projects. The aim is that the Volkswagen Group and its brands will stand not only for the best vehicles but in equal measure for exciting digital products and services.
The Excellent Leadership module is based on three main areas: communication, human resources development and collaboration. To remain competitive and fit for the future, we will accelerate the transformation to a more open, more partnership-based and more value-based leadership culture. We are developing digital and dialogue-based communication formats to enable a more timely flow of information and integrate all brands and regions even more strongly. We are completely restructuring management development and training and taking an even more systematic approach to succession planning so that, at our Group, the right talent is always in the right position at the right time. We are also defining clear expectations for the Group’s managers. These involve greater customer focus, more corporate responsibility, greater effectiveness and focus on results as well as a culture of constructive dissent and a positive approach in dealing with mistakes. Volkswagen also wants to increase diversity at all levels of the company and is pursuing clear, measurable targets for raising the proportion of female and international managers.