Oliver Blume

Oliver Blume
Blume in 2013
Oliver Blume
Born	Oliver Ingo Blume 6 6, 1968
Birthplace	Braunschweig, West Germany
Nationality	German
Occupation	CEO of Volkswagen Group, former CEO of Porsche AG
Known for	Leading Volkswagen Group and Porsche AG

Oliver Ingo Blume (born 6 June 1968) is a German automotive executive who serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Volkswagen Group, one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. Born in Braunschweig, the city that has long served as a hub of Volkswagen's operations, Blume built a career spanning decades within the Volkswagen corporate structure before ascending to lead first Porsche AG and then the parent group itself. He held the unusual distinction of simultaneously serving as CEO of both Porsche AG and the Volkswagen Group from September 2022 until the end of 2025, a dual role that drew both attention and criticism from labor representatives and industry observers. In October 2025, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG reaffirmed its confidence in Blume by extending his appointment as Group CEO until the end of 2030, while he stepped down from the Porsche AG leadership to focus exclusively on the wider group's turnaround efforts. His tenure at the helm of the Volkswagen Group has been defined by the challenge of managing the conglomerate's transition toward electric vehicles, navigating declining sales in China, and closing a perceived technology gap with competitors.

Early Life

Oliver Ingo Blume was born on 6 June 1968 in Braunschweig, in what was then West Germany. Braunschweig, a city in the state of Lower Saxony, has deep historical ties to the Volkswagen Group; the city is home to significant Volkswagen research and administrative facilities and is located approximately 30 kilometers from Wolfsburg, the company's global headquarters. Growing up in this automotive heartland, Blume would eventually build virtually his entire professional career within the Volkswagen corporate family.

Details about Blume's childhood and family background remain largely private. What is known from official corporate records is that he pursued technical education in his home city, a trajectory consistent with Braunschweig's longstanding reputation as a center for engineering and technology in Germany.

Education

Blume studied at the Braunschweig University of Technology (Technische Universität Braunschweig), one of Germany's oldest and most respected technical universities. The institution, founded in 1745, is noted for its engineering programs and has produced numerous leaders in the German automotive and industrial sectors. Blume earned a doctoral degree from the university, and is accordingly referred to with the academic title "Dr." in German corporate and public contexts. His studies at Braunschweig provided the technical foundation that would underpin his subsequent career in production management and automotive manufacturing within the Volkswagen Group.

Career

Early Career at Volkswagen Group

Blume spent the formative years of his career working within the various brands and divisions of the Volkswagen Group. Over the course of more than two decades, he accumulated experience across multiple operational areas and brands within the conglomerate, progressing through the ranks of the organization. His career path included positions in production and manufacturing, areas that would become central to his professional identity.

His rise within the Volkswagen system reflected the group's traditional pattern of promoting executives who had demonstrated competence across multiple brands and functions. This breadth of experience across the group's portfolio—which encompasses brands ranging from mass-market Volkswagen to luxury marques such as Porsche, Bentley, and Lamborghini—prepared Blume for increasingly senior leadership roles.

CEO of Porsche AG (2015–2025)

Blume's appointment as CEO of Porsche AG came in late 2015, in the midst of the Volkswagen emissions scandal (commonly known as "Dieselgate") that was engulfing the broader Volkswagen Group. He succeeded Matthias Müller, who had been elevated from the Porsche CEO position to lead the parent Volkswagen Group in the wake of the crisis. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described Blume as "the new Mr. Porsche" upon his appointment, signaling the significance of the role. The Süddeutsche Zeitung also reported on the appointment, noting Blume's succession of Müller at the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer.

As head of Porsche AG, Blume oversaw a period of significant strategic development for the brand. During his tenure, Porsche launched the Taycan, the company's first fully electric production vehicle, marking a milestone in the brand's transition toward electrification. He also led Porsche through the landmark initial public offering (IPO) of Porsche AG in September 2022, one of the largest stock market listings in European history. The IPO partially separated Porsche AG's ownership from the Volkswagen Group while maintaining the parent company's controlling stake.

Under Blume's leadership, Porsche AG undertook a comprehensive realignment of its product strategy. In September 2025, the company announced that the Executive Board and Supervisory Board had decided on significant adjustments to the brand's product plans, as part of what was described as a continuing effort at comprehensive realignment.

However, Blume's tenure at Porsche was not without controversy. By 2025, the company faced declining sales, particularly in the Chinese market, and challenges related to the transition to electric vehicles. The Volkswagen Group's works council publicly demanded that Blume relinquish his Porsche CEO role, citing concerns about the burden of his dual leadership responsibilities. Reports indicated that the dual role was seen by labor representatives as unsustainable, particularly given the scale of the challenges facing both companies simultaneously.

Upon the announcement of his departure from Porsche AG, Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG, acknowledged that Blume had "taken great" strides for the company during his time as CEO. Blume was succeeded as CEO of Porsche AG by Dr. Michael Leiters, formerly the CEO of McLaren, who assumed the role on 1 January 2026.

CEO of Volkswagen Group (2022–present)

In September 2022, Blume was appointed CEO of the Volkswagen Group, succeeding Herbert Diess, who had departed amid internal conflicts over the group's strategy and the troubled development of its software division, CARIAD. Deutsche Welle reported that Blume took over the top role at Volkswagen at a time when the company was grappling with significant difficulties in its software operations, a critical component of the industry's shift toward connected and autonomous vehicles.

Blume's appointment created the unusual arrangement of one executive simultaneously heading both the Volkswagen Group and Porsche AG. This dual CEO structure drew scrutiny, with observers questioning whether a single leader could adequately address the strategic demands of both organizations. The arrangement persisted for over three years before Blume relinquished the Porsche role at the end of 2025.

As head of the Volkswagen Group, Blume has confronted a set of interrelated challenges that have tested the conglomerate's strategic direction. Chief among these has been a pronounced decline in the group's market position in China, historically one of its largest and most profitable markets. The rise of Chinese domestic automakers, particularly in the electric vehicle segment, has eroded Volkswagen's market share in the country. Simultaneously, Blume has faced pressure to close what investors and analysts have described as a technology gap between Volkswagen and its competitors, particularly in software capabilities, electric vehicle architecture, and autonomous driving technology.

In October 2025, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG expressed its continued confidence in Blume's leadership by extending his contract as Group CEO until the end of 2030. The extension signaled the board's endorsement of Blume's strategic direction, even as the company faced ongoing operational and competitive challenges.

By early 2026, with the Porsche role behind him, Blume faced what Reuters described as "a defining test"—proving he could stem the sales decline in China and close the technology gap with competitors. Investors indicated they were watching closely for tangible results from the group's turnaround efforts. The pressure to deliver was compounded by broader industry trends, including tightening emissions regulations in the European Union, accelerating electrification, and intensifying global competition.

Fraunhofer Senate

Beyond his roles in the automotive industry, Blume has served as a member of the Senate of the Fraunhofer Society, Germany's largest applied research organization. The Fraunhofer Senate is an advisory body that oversees the strategic direction of the organization, which operates dozens of research institutes across Germany focused on applied science and technology. This appointment reflected Blume's standing in Germany's broader industrial and technological community.

Personal Life

Oliver Blume has maintained a relatively private personal life, consistent with the norms of senior German corporate executives. He was born and raised in Braunschweig, and his career has kept him within the orbit of the Volkswagen Group's principal locations in Germany, including Wolfsburg (Volkswagen Group headquarters) and Stuttgart (Porsche AG headquarters). Public records primarily document his professional activities rather than his private affairs.

Recognition

Blume's appointment to leadership positions at two of Germany's most prominent automotive companies—Porsche AG and the Volkswagen Group—represents a career achievement within the German automotive industry. His membership in the Fraunhofer Senate reflects recognition of his contributions to applied research and industrial technology in Germany.

The extension of his contract as Volkswagen Group CEO through 2030, announced in October 2025, was interpreted by industry observers as a vote of confidence from the conglomerate's Supervisory Board at a time of significant strategic uncertainty. Upon his departure from Porsche AG, Wolfgang Porsche publicly acknowledged his contributions to the sports car brand during a decade of leadership.

Blume is documented in the German National Library's authority files and in the Deutsche Biographie, the German biographical reference work, reflecting his recognition as a notable figure in German business and industry.

Legacy

As of early 2026, Oliver Blume's legacy remains in formation, with the outcome of the Volkswagen Group's turnaround efforts likely to be the defining factor in how his tenure is assessed. His decade-long leadership of Porsche AG encompassed the brand's entry into electric vehicle production with the Taycan and the historic IPO of Porsche AG, both of which represented transformative moments for the company. At the same time, the challenges that emerged at Porsche toward the end of his tenure—including declining sales in key markets and questions about the brand's product strategy—complicate an unequivocal assessment.

At the Volkswagen Group level, Blume assumed leadership at a time when the world's second-largest automaker by volume faced existential questions about its ability to compete in an industry undergoing rapid electrification and digitalization. The group's position in China, its software capabilities, and its ability to bring competitive electric vehicles to market at scale all represent tests that will shape Blume's legacy. The decision by the Supervisory Board to extend his mandate through 2030 provides him with a lengthy runway to execute the group's strategic transformation, but also raises the stakes for delivering measurable results.

His career trajectory—from an engineer trained in Braunschweig to the leader of one of Europe's largest industrial conglomerates—exemplifies a path through the German automotive industry's traditional management development system, in which executives build deep operational expertise across multiple brands and functions before assuming top leadership roles.