FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – Volkswagen’s patriarch has left the building. Does this mean change is coming to the world’s No. 2 automaker – in particular, to its high-cost ways of doing business?
Ferdinand Piech shaped the company’s destiny for more than 25 years. He rescued Volkswagen’s fortunes as CEO from 1993 to 2002. He then served as a powerful board chairman, his clout heightened by the fact his family owns a majority stake in the company.
Piech had criticized CEO Martin Winterkorn in an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, saying he was “at a distance” from him. Other board members – including Piech’s cousin, Wolfgang Porsche – backed Winterkorn.
Piech, 78, lost the battle and resigned Saturday. His wife, Ursula, resigned her board seat as well.
He didn’t say exactly what his problem with Winterkorn was.