Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn to have contract extended to 2018


2 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

BERLIN (AP) — Top directors at German carmaker Volkswagen plan to give a two-year contract extension to CEO Martin Winterkorn, who emerged on top of a power struggle this year with company patriarch Ferdinand Piech.

The automaker said Wednesday that the executive committee of its supervisory board agreed to propose to the full board that Winterkorn be granted a contract through the end of 2018 at a meeting scheduled for Sept. 25.

Piech, for years Volkswagen's dominant figure, resigned as board chairman in April. He said in an interview that he was "at a distance" from Winterkorn, but the CEO obtained support from other board members.

The extension would keep Winterkorn, who is 68, on the job until he is 71.

Piech did not outline publicly his reasons for falling out with Winterkorn. Volkswagen is profitable and achieved its goal of passing Toyota as the world's largest carmaker over the first six months of this year. But the company has struggled to reduce costs and improve market share in the United States.

It now faces slackening demand in China, which is a key source of sales and profits, as well as headwinds in economically troubled Brazil and Russia.

The company is implementing a new modular assembly technique that promises costs savings and more flexible manufacturing.

Profits slipped in the second quarter, to 2.73 billion euros ($3.08 billion) from 3.25 billion euros.

The company has yet to choose a permanent new board chairman. Piech's former deputy, Berthold Huber, a former leader of Germany's biggest industrial union, is the interim chairman.

Volkswagen AG's brands include Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

Business
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast