Volkswagen board chairman Ferdinand Piech and Volkswagen CEO Martin WinterkornVolkswagen AG executive board members today backed Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, saying it will propose the CEO’s contract be extended past 2016.
“The executive committee places great importance on the fact that Martin Winterkorn will pursue his role as Chairman of the Board of Management with the same vigor and success as before, and that he has the full support of the Committee in doing so,” VW said in a statement.
The panel planned to propose to the company supervisory board to extend Winterkorn’s current contract when it meets in February 2016.
VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech had told weekly magazine Der Spiegel last week that he had “distanced himself” from his CEO.
The executive board met Thursday to try to resolve the leadership crisis and gave Winterkorn its backing.