The move comes after Trump signed an executive order targeting DEI in January
- Volkswagen is reportedly changing its DEI strategy to appease the Trump administration.
- As part of the effort, US data will be removed from their global diversity calculations.
- Trump has railed against DEI and pressured large companies to eliminate their programs.
Following a wildly successful boycott against Bud Light, several companies rethought their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. This included automakers such as Ford, Nissan, and Toyota.
While this was a relatively gradual shift, there’s added pressure now with President Trump back in the White House. In one of the most high-profile examples, Verizon abandoned their DEI policies as part of an effort to get the Federal Communications Commission to approve a deal to buy Frontier.
More: Toyota Waves The White LGBTQ Flag, Cuts DEI Initiatives
As NPR noted, the FCC specifically highlighted this in their announcement by saying, “Verizon has … committed to ending DEI-related practices … and has reaffirmed the merged entity’s commitment to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination.”
Fast forward to today, and it appears Volkswagen is the latest company to buckle. According to a new report from Handelsblatt, the automaker is “adjusting its corporate diversity strategy and will no longer include its US subsidiaries in future calculations” for diversity metrics.
The publication went on to say Volkswagen bases some bonuses on hitting DEI goals. As an example, they said the automaker aimed to have women make up 20.2% of upper management by 2025, which would be an increase from 19.2%.
The change reportedly comes after large European companies were contacted by local US embassies and “indirectly” told to stop their DEI programs.
Back home, the White House has put out multiple communications railing against DEI. In January, President Trump signed an executive order to protect the “civil rights of all Americans” and expand individual opportunity by “terminating radical DEI preferencing in federal contracting and directing federal agencies to relentlessly combat private sector discrimination.”
At the time, the government noted that roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, critical and influential institutions of American society – including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education – have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’
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