No Resolution Yet to VW Management Crisis

The leadership committee of Volkswagen AG's supervisory board met on Thursday afternoon and adjourned three hours later, apparently without resolving the crisis created last Friday when Chairman Ferdinand Piech indicated he had lost confidence in CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Reports says Winterkorn appeared before the committee, which consists of Piech and five other members, at one point.

Reuters says the gravity of Piech's comment about Winterkorn is underscored by a poll of 50 investors, most of them VW shareholders, conducted by advisory firm Evercore ISI. Half of those polled expect the company to change CEOs in the next 6-18 months, and two-thirds believe such a change will boost VW's stock price.

But four in five respondents say replacing Piech would be equally beneficial to the company. Investors agree that Matthias Mueller, CEO of VW's Porsche unit, is the best candidate to succeed Winterkorn.