Rift in Volkswagen Top Brass Makes Porsche Chief the Next Possible Chairman

Leaders of Porsche and Volkswagen are clashing, it may lead to some new leadership for the automotive megagroup.

Ferdinand Piech, the Chairman of Volkswagen, and Martin Winterkorn, the VW CEO are having a rift, which has put the top of the company at risk. The showdown between the two top executives has prompted the hunt for a new leader in the company. In an interview to the Der Spiegel magazine, Chairman Ferdinand Piech said that he did not want Winterkorn to succeed him as the Chairman.

It is obvious that Piech does not believe on the abilities of the CEO any more. But he did not clearly specify the reasons that made him lose confidence on Winterkorn. He merely mentioned that he was maintaining “a distance” from the latter and did not want him to fill the post of the Chairman.

Meanwhile, a source close to the company has suggested that the Matthias Mueller, the leading man of Porsche, the sportscar brand of VW, is going to be elevated to the coveted position.

Other than Porsche, Volkswagen also owns the brands Skoda, Bugatti, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini. There is a two-tier board structure in this company, and its supervisory board is similar to a board of directors which has the responsibility of making appointments to the management board.

Arndt Ellinghorst, Evercore ISI analyst, said about the matter, “Most observers believe that Winterkorn on balance has done a good job. VW’s problems aren’t new and are mostly a result of management and supervisory board decision taking.”

But he hoped that the situation takes a turn for the positive and the right man is appointed for the position before long.

Meanwhile, Matthias Mueller has already stated last month that he is quite fit and young to be the Chairman. He is 62 years old at present. Winterkorn, on the other hand, has expressed his desire to fight for his job at a German trade fair.

Source: Data and information presented on this blog have been sourced from http://jalopnik.com/strife-within-volkswagen-makes-porsches-boss-top-choice-1697929666