Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has expressed dissatisfaction with the share price performance of Europe's largest carmaker.

This is especially true for the 2024 fiscal year, Blume said on Friday during the annual general meeting, according to the prepared speech. Volkswagen has made significant progress in realigning the group. On the other hand, the capital market is assessing the reported performance and factoring in the current risk situation. In 2025, Volkswagen will be one of the few automakers worldwide with a positive share price trend. "Everything remains at a low level. Here too, our ambitions are much higher," Blume added.

The VW share has risen by a solid 17 percent so far in 2025 and is currently trading at 104 euros. In 2024, VW shares lost around 20 percent, while the European auto index declined by only twelve percent over the same period. Ingo Speich from asset management firm Deka Investment described it as another year of decline. "Among investors, a sense of renewal has given way to resignation," he said. "All we can do now is hope."

There is reason for hope in the renewal of the model range over the next two years, Speich added. He pointed to the VW ID.7 model as well as the electric Audi vehicles A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron, which are important for the lucrative fleet business. Volkswagen has made progress in costs, development, and its model lineup. "Unfortunately, when it comes to poor corporate governance, they are still standing still," he added.

Blume's dual role as CEO of both Volkswagen and Porsche has also drawn criticism. "With Mr. Blume, Volkswagen only has a part-time CEO, who is overwhelmed by the company's problems," said Janne Werning from asset management firm Union Investment. "Instead of letting shareholder criticism bounce off year after year and playing for time, you should finally address and resolve these glaring governance deficits before VW slips even deeper into crisis," he said, addressing Supervisory Board Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch.

(Reporting by Christina Amann, editing by Ralf Banser. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for business and markets).