A member of Volkswagen's powerful supervisory board said Tuesday in Chattanooga that the carmaker has found a way for its chief executive and chairman to continue to work together after a leadership crisis.
"They found a very good way to have successful discussions," said Olaf Lies, who also is the minister for economics, labor and transport for the German state of Lower Saxony, which has about a 20 percent stake in VW.
Lies, in Chattanooga to lead a delegation of German companies looking at Tennessee and Georgia, said that VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and Chairman Ferdinand Piech will "continue this partnership. This is good for VW and good for Chattanooga."
The Chattanooga Volkswagen plant between Tyner and Ooltewah is shown.Read more
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Supervisory board head Piech sparked a succession crisis at VW last week by telling a German magazine that he had "distanced" himself from Winterkorn, who was his presumed successor.
Automotive News cited a source close to the board as saying the 78-year-old Piech is dismayed by the performance of the VW brand, particularly in the U.S.
After successfully launching the Chattanooga-made Passat in 2011, the company was slow to follow-up with new vehicles. Currently, the automaker is undertaking a more than $900 million expansion of the plant to make a new sport utility vehicle, but production won't start until late 2016.
Late last week, the board's central steering group met and Winterkorn emerged having "the full support of the committee," the panel said in a statement.
The CEO also has the committee's backing for a contract extension when the full panel meets in February to discuss the issue.
Representatives of some 23 companies gathered with Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce officials Tuesday in a closed-door meeting.
Sam Wills, the regional director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, said the plant expansion has led to a lot of activity of potentially drawing more suppliers to the area.
VW plant head of communications Scott Wilson said the delegation is to visit the factory today.
"It's about building relationships," he said.
Also today, the German group will head to Georgia to meet with economic development officials there.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.