A Volkswagen boss who wanted to pass a Tesla was pushed out of the door.

• Herbert Diess was fired as CEO of Volkswagen three years before his contract was up.
• According to the Financial Times, he often clashed with the powerful council representing workers.
• Dice wanted VW to overtake Tesla as the world’s largest electric car maker.

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has been ousted after more than four years in the role and three years left on his contract.

He was the architect of the German automaker’s multibillion-dollar push into electric cars, and Tesla wanted to become the world’s number one electric car maker.

Dice will be replaced in September by Porsche CEO Oliver Blum, part of the VW Group.

According to the Financial Times, Dice was often at odds with the company’s works council, which represents workers and holds half the seats on the board.

Daniela Cavallo, who leads the council, said: “Job security and profitability will continue to be equally important corporate goals in the coming years. As a labor organization, our focus is clear: all our colleagues must be involved. Today’s decisions will be respected. This”

Dies said privately VW has around 30,000 employees, the FT reported.

Earlier this year, the group announced the ID.Buzz electric version of the iconic Microbus and Insider reported that it could launch an electric pickup truck to rival the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet’s Silverado EV.

Elon Musk acknowledged the company’s achievements, telling the FT in May that Volkswagen had made the most progress in EVs, apart from Tesla.

Last month, Dice told employees at the company’s Wolfsburg headquarters: “Elon has to grow two complex factories simultaneously in Austin and Grünheid.” [near Berlin] – and expand production in Shanghai. That costs him strength. We need to seize this opportunity and get it fast – we can be at the forefront by 2025. “

Insider reported last month that a study by Bloomberg Intelligence predicted that VW could surpass Tesla by 2024 to more than 2 million battery-powered vehicles and double its production.

Volkswagen plans to produce about 700,000 electric cars this year, but that’s about half of what Tesla expects to produce.

In Europe, however, the German company has nearly double Tesla’s market share in EVs.

Volkswagen Group Chairman Hans-Dieter Petsch said of Dice: “He not only steered the company through extremely turbulent waters, but also implemented a fundamentally new strategy.”

Blum, who continues to run Porsche, joined VW in 1994 and held management roles at its Audi, SEAT and Volkswagen divisions before moving to Porsche. Diess is a rare outsider and joined BMW in 2015.