Reports: VW board meeting amid leadership spat

BERLIN (AP) — The supervisory board of Volkswagen is meeting Thursday following a public spat within the carmaker's top leadership, German media report.

News agency dpa reported, without citing sources, that the extraordinary meeting was called to discuss the row between board chairman Ferdinand Piech and CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Volkswagen declined to comment on the report.

Piech was quoted Friday by Der Spiegel magazine as saying he was "at a distance from Winterkorn," who has been widely considered a likely successor as supervisory board chief. That prompted speculation about his position.

Winterkorn has received backing from the head of Volkswagen's influential employee council, while the governor of Lower Saxony state, a minority shareholder, criticized the public discussion about the company's leadership.

The Piech and Porsche families together control a majority in Volkswagen. Board member Wolfgang Porsche told dpa in a statement Sunday that Piech's comment represents "his private opinion" and wasn't cleared with his family.

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