VOLKSWAGEN / Piech “liquid” Winterkorn: “We are at a distance” – Asapress.net

Hannover (Germany) – Maybe it’s the end of an era . To Martin Winterkorn at the helm of the largest car manufacturer in Europe, Volkswagen Group . The magazine Spiegel reported a concise statement of the “grand old man”, Ferdinand Piech , Chairman of the Supervisory Board, who said of be “remote” by Winterkorn. German statement of just six words on the eve of the contract expires (2016) the number one group, just wanted to Piech in 1981 at the wheel of Audi, it seems to amount to a judgment. Last budget conference Winterkorn had hinted that his replace at the top of the Volkswagen brand (what sells more, but whose margins are judged unsatisfactory, as soon as the 2.5%) was to allow him to focus on the strategies of the group.

In the light output of Piech ( shareholder Dynasty Porsche Piech with 51% ), it would seem the beginning of the end. Also because it seems set so the hypothesis of “relay race” in the same Piech and Winterkorn at the head of the Supervisory Board, which observers had expected for the beginning of 2017. At the base of the “differences” may be not only the results of Volkawagen, but also the management (disappointing) of the North American market and the announced plan savings of at least 5 billion Euros. Winterkorn had already indicated that in 2016, at age 69, was “old enough to quit.” Piech seems to have secured this opportunity, despite the support of the powerful workers’ representative, Osterloh, and also the Land of Lower Saxony, which has a fifth of the voting rights and, above all, enjoys the right of veto. Among the few certainties that seem to transpire is that future issues one of the group and of the Supervisory Board will be caught between the manager already work for one of the 12 brands Galaxy Volkswagen . Under the leadership of Winterkorn, the group has almost doubled its turnover and broke for the first time the threshold of 10 million vehicles sold. A Piech, Winterkorn has already said not to be willing to step aside. This opens a challenge in the newspapers very unusual for Volkswagen and for Germany.