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Volkswagen CEO Diess future in jeopardy, no terms met with Supervisory Board

(Credit: Daniel Aharonoff/Twitter)

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Volkswagen Auto Group CEO Herbert Diess and a Supervisory Board were unable to meet terms that would solidify Diess’ future at the automaker, reports from Germany indicate.

Diess has been on the hot seat at Volkswagen for several months following his vocalization of plans to cut 30,000 or more jobs from the German company’s employment population. Diess warned Volkswagen during an internal meeting that failure to accelerate the company’s transition to electric vehicles could cost some jobs, especially as the automaker continues to lag behind industry leader Tesla.

Herbert Diess (Credit: Volkswagen AG)

Diess and the Supervisory Board, which is comprised of prominent members of Volkswagen and other brands, as well as representatives from large shareholder groups, were unable to come to terms that would extend Diess’ term as VW AG CEO. Handelsblatt writes (paywalled):

“After intensive discussions, the leading supervisory board members from the Porsche and Piëch families, the state of Lower Saxony and the employee representatives were unable to agree on a compromise on the future of the 63-year-old.”

Volkswagen is arguably the world’s most committed and established automaker to the electric vehicle movement. Volkswagen is one of the only well-known, global, mass-market automotive brands to embrace the EV transition with such fervor, and this may have something to do with the tension between Diess and the board. Diess has primarily been the main reason for the accelerated transition, which has solidified Volkswagen as one of the more popular EV brands that came from ICE production. Diess is set on keeping up with Tesla by any means necessary, and losing time and falling further behind Elon Musk’s company is something Diess has warned VW executives about. Speaking of time, “It is precious,” Diess said in the Supervisory Board meeting, according to sources.

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Stephan Weil, a member of the Supervisory Board and leader of the Social Democratic Party in Lower Saxony, gave Diess words of approval during his presentation. However, he is not totally on board with Diess’ strategy, calling it “styleless.” Head of the Works Council, Daniela Cavallo, supported Weil’s analysis of Diess’ job performance.

The Board’s discontent with Diess seems to lie on “a lack of strategy of how he wants to develop the Group,” the report from Handelsblatt continues. Unfortunately, Diess’ emphasis on EVs has led to widespread support from other electric car companies, including Tesla, whose CEO Musk has accumulated the respect of Diess in an evident friendship. It appears Diess may not continue at VW if the Supervisory Board meeting has anything to do with it.

Volkswagen recently reported EV delivery totals in Q3 2021 that doubled the same period in 2020, led by the ID.4 all-electric crossover.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk says Tesla is developing a new vehicle: ‘Way cooler than a minivan’

It sounds as if Tesla could be considering a new vehicle to fit the mold of what a larger family would need, and as fans have been demanding it for several years and the company is phasing out the Model X, its only family-geared vehicle, it sounds as if it could be the perfect time.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is developing a new vehicle, and it will be “way cooler than a minivan.”

It sounds as if Tesla could be considering a new vehicle to fit the mold of what a larger family would need, and as fans have been demanding it for several years and the company is phasing out the Model X, its only family-geared vehicle, it sounds as if it could be the perfect time.

There are a handful of things Musk could be talking about, and as many Tesla owners have wanted a vehicle along the lines of a minivan for hauling around their family, speculation has persisted about what the company would do in terms of developing something for that exact use case.

There were several options, and some of them seemed to be already available. Musk posted on X yesterday that the Cybertruck has three sets of isofix attachments and could fit three child seats or three adults, and it seemed to be a way to deflect plans for a new, larger vehicle as a Model Y L appeared to be present at Giga Texas.

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There is also the Robovan, the large people mover that Tesla unveiled at the “We, Robot” back in 2024.

However, it seems Tesla could be developing something like a CyberSUV, something that is going to be large enough to haul around a car full of kids, but could be developed with the company’s aesthetic of the company’s most recent releases: this would likely include a light bar and a more sleek, futuristic look.

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We’ve mocked up some potential looks for Tesla’s speculative vehicle in the past:

Tesla has teased the potential of a CyberSUV in the past, showing off clay models that it developed back in September in a teaser video called “Sustainable Abundance.”

Tesla appears to be mulling a Cyber SUV design

Fans and owners have been calling for this development for a very long time, and it seems like Tesla might be ready to finally answer the call on a large SUV. With the segment being dominated by combustion engine vehicles, Tesla could truly disrupt the large SUVs that have been mainstays.

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The Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon would feel some additional pressure, and it would be possible for Tesla to infiltrate some of those sales and pull consumers to electric powertrains.

As the Model S and Model X sunset process is truly hitting full swing, it might be time to consider Tesla’s next option in terms of vehicle development.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s $10 Trillion robot: Inside Tesla’s push to mass produce Optimus

Tesla’s surging Optimus job listings reveal a company sprinting from prototype to one million robot production.

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Tesla is accelerating its push to bring the Optimus humanoid robot to high volume production, and its recent job listings tells the story as clearly as any earnings call.

With well over 100 Optimus related job openings now posted across its U.S. facilities, Tesla is signaling a critical pivot for the program, moving it from a captivating tech demo to a serious manufacturing endeavor. Roles span the full spectrum of the product lifecycle, from Robotics Software Engineers and Manufacturing Engineers to Mechanical Integration Engineers and AI Engineers focused on world modeling and video generation. One active listing for a Software Engineer on the Optimus team asks candidates to build scalable and reliable data pipelines for Optimus manufacturing lines and develop automation tools that accelerate analysis and visualization for mass manufacturing.

Tesla is racing toward a one million unit annual production target. The clearest signal yet that Tesla is treating Optimus as its primary business came on January 28, 2026, during the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call. Musk announced that Tesla is ending production of the Model S and Model X, and will repurpose those lines at its Fremont, California factory to build Optimus humanoid robots.

A production intent prototype of Optimus Version 3 is planned to be ready in early 2026, after which Tesla intends to build a one million unit production line with a targeted production start by the end of 2026. To support that ramp, Tesla broke ground on a massive new Optimus manufacturing facility at Gigafactory Texas in late 2025, with ambitions to eventually reach 10 million units per year.

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Tesla Giga Texas to feature massive Optimus V4 production line

The business case for scaling this aggressively is rooted in labor economics. Musk has stated that “Optimus has the potential to be the biggest product of all time,” reasoning that if Tesla can produce capable humanoid robots at scale and reasonable cost, every task currently performed by human labor becomes a potential application. In a separate statement, Musk framed Optimus’s long term importance even more bluntly, saying it could surpass Tesla’s vehicle business in scale with the potential to generate $10 trillion in revenue.

The industries Tesla is targeting first are those most burdened by repetitive physical labor. Early applications include manufacturing assembly, material handling and quality inspection, as well as logistics tasks like loading, unloading, sorting, and transporting goods in warehouses and distribution centers. Longer term, Tesla’s vision is for Optimus to penetrate household, medical, and logistics scenarios at the scale of a smartphone rollout.

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Tesla officially begins sunset of Model S and Model X

In the latest move to show Tesla is planning to eliminate the Model S and Model X from production, the company’s Korean arm has officially set a firm cutoff date of March 31, 2026, for new orders of both models.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially started its process of sunsetting the Model S and Model X just months after the company confirmed it would stop producing the two flagship vehicles in 2026.

This step marks the end of an era for the vehicles that helped establish not only Tesla’s prowess as an automaker but also its status as a disruptor in the entire car industry. While these two cars have done a tremendous amount for Tesla, the signal that it is time to wind down their production has evidently arrived.

In the latest move to show Tesla is planning to eliminate the Model S and Model X from production, the company’s Korean arm has officially set a firm cutoff date of March 31, 2026, for new orders of both models.

This is the first time Tesla has announced a hard global deadline for the Model S and X, as after that date, only existing inventory will be available in South Korea.

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The move to bring closure to the Model S and Model X aligns with CEO Elon Musk’s plans for Tesla moving forward. During the Q4 2025 Earnings Call in January, Musk said the two cars deserved an “honorable discharge” for what they have done for the company.

The long-running programs are primarily being removed so that manufacturing lines can be repurposed for high-volume manufacturing of the Optimus humanoid robot. Tesla is targeting a production rate of up to one million units each year.

The Model S and Model X being removed from Tesla’s plans is a tough choice, but it was one that was written on the wall. Sales of these premium models have declined sharply in recent years, and even with Plaid configurations that are performance-forward, the company still has had trouble getting them sold.

In 2025, the Model S and Model X together accounted for roughly 3 percent of Tesla’s global deliveries, down significantly from prior periods as competition intensified in the luxury EV segment and buyers shifted toward more affordable options like the Model 3 and Model Y.

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The Model S saw sales drop over 50 percent year-over-year in some quarters, while the Model X faced similar pressures from rivals, including the Rivian R1S and BMW iX.

Despite their dwindling volume, the Model S and Model X remain technological showcases. The Plaid variants deliver blistering acceleration, advanced Full Self-Driving capability, and luxurious interiors.

The phase-out paves the way for Tesla’s strategic pivot toward autonomy, robotics, and higher-volume vehicles.

Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms

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Fremont will continue producing the refreshed Model 3 and Model Y, ensuring the factory remains a key automotive hub while expanding into robotics. Tesla has stated that the shift is not expected to result in job losses and could increase headcount as Optimus production ramps up.

For Tesla fans, the sunset represents a bittersweet moment. The Model S, introduced in 2012, proved EVs could compete with luxury sedans, while the Falcon-wing-door Model X set new standards for family haulers. Owners can expect continued software support and service for years to come.

Many fans have pushed for the Model X to hang around due to its appeal for families.

With the two cars heading out, Tesla’s priority now becomes its future products, especially that of the Optimus robot, which is the main reason for the S/X platform’s conclusion.

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