Dennis Radtke, who heads the employee wing of the CDU, harshly criticized Audi CEO Gernot Döllner’s participation in a political event for US President Donald Trump. While Radtke stated that German companies investing abroad is initially a completely normal and understandable process, he found the act of framing it as a campaign performance for Donald Trump to be “disturbing and pathetic.”
The CDU politician further commented that Trump’s policies severely damage German industry, including the automotive sector. He challenged the Volkswagen Group to take decisive action regarding Döllner’s appearance. Radtke demanded that Volkswagen’s ethics and compliance rules demonstrate more substance than a mere mix of managerial platitudes and surface-level slogans, insisting that the corporation needed to clearly define its position on the matter.
Meanwhile, Olaf Lies, the Minister President of Lower Saxony (SPD)-a member of the VW supervisory board-also responded to Radtke, suggesting that the minister was surprisingly reserved in his reaction.
