The tension between VW Group CEO, and Martin Winterkorn and its longtime board chairman, Ferdinand K. Piëch has led to Piëch’s shocking resignation as chair of the Supervisory Board with official statement said, “mutual trust necessary for successful cooperation no longer exists.”
Piëch , a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, was named chairman and CEO of the VW Group in 1993. The Porsche holding group owns slightly more than 50% of VW, and Piech in turn owns about 10% of Porsche. He is credited with giving the go-ahead to a number of products such as the Audi Quattro, Bugatti Veyron and VW Phaeton, as well as pushing the company to be in the running for world’s largest automaker.
Piëch resigned with immediate effect from his position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and from all his mandates as a Supervisory Board member within the Volkswagen Group. His wife, Ms. Ursula Piëch who also worked at VW has resigned with immediate effect from all her Supervisory Board mandates within the Volkswagen Group.
His position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board will be temporarily assumed by the Deputy Chairman Berthold Huber. Under the chair of Mr. Berthold Huber, the representatives of shareholders and employees will then determine the candidate for the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board to replace Piëch.
