VW families nominate the CFO as chairman

The Porsche and Piëch familiess, who control Volkswagen AG, have nominated the company’s finance chief, Hans Dieter Pötsch, to be VW’s chairman,

the

Wall Street Journal

reported.

The announcement was made a day after the company said it would extend the contract of VW’s CEO, Martin Winterkorn, through 2018.

Earlier this year, VW’s former chairman, Ferdinand Piëch, had expressed a lack of confidence in Winterkorn. The comments resulted in a showdown, and Piëch resigned as a result.

The


Journal


report said the nomination of Pötsch as chairman “puts him in charge of his current boss and makes clear that Mr. Winterkorn’s ambitions to one day become the chairman of Volkswagen might never be realized.”

The


Journal


report said Wolfgang Porsche, chairman of Porsche Automobil Holding SE and Piëch’s cousin, made comments that indicated Pötsch was supported by Porsche SE’s entire supervisory board, including Piëch.

The article pointed out that although Piëch had stepped down from all of his positions in VW, he is still a major shareholder in the company and a member of the supervisory board of Porsche SE, which controls VW’s voting stock.

An unnamed source told the


Journal


, “In the end, yes, Piëch stopped Winterkorn.”

The


Journal


article noted that Pötsch orchestrated a €5 billion ($5.61 billion) capital increase that bailed out the Porsche and Piëch families after a failed attempt by Porsche AG to take over Volkswagen. Pötsch is also Porsche SE’s CFO and will remain in that position when he becomes VW chairman, the report said.

VW’s shareholders will vote on Pötsch’s appointment at a special meeting in November, the


Journal


article said.  (Source:


Wall Street Journal


, September 4, 2015.)