Report: Piech Basically Still Running Volkswagen Anyway
Reports out of Germany indicate that ousted chairman and current majority owner of Volkswagen’s parent group, Ferdinand Piech, may have tampered with the board nomination to replace him.
Piech may have prevented current VW CEO Martin Winterkorn from becoming chairman after the two’s public feud ultimately resulted with Piech’s abrupt resignation in April, Reuters reported.
If true, the backroom dealings would indicate that while Piech may not be overseeing VW anymore, he still wields significant influence on its operations and leadership.
Last week, Volkswagen announced that Winterkorn would continue on as CEO until 2018, which effectively ended his bid to become chairman. Two days later, VW’s board announced it would nominate its chief financial officer Hans Dieter Poetsch as its next chairman in November.
According to Reuters — which cites German magazine Spiegel and newspaper FAS — Poetsch was Piech’s choice after hearing the board would nominate Winterkorn for the top spot.
Piech is the 78-year-old grandson of Ferdinand Porsche.
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What?!?!?! Ousted chairman and CURRENT MAJORITY OWNER of Volkswagen still has influence over his company?????? Shocking...
Gee, what a surprise... This probably means that VW will not do sweeping changes and the fact that they are number one volume manufacturer now reinforces their mentality that what they do is OK. Watch out - the new Phaeton is coming. And the bloggers will keep on commenting why VW is not bringing new models. Not going to happen - at least not in North America. Good riddance. Germans don't know how (nor want?) to make relatively long lasting / cheap cars. Heck - not even the expensive ones last much.