VW Board Backs Winterkorn in Rebuke to Piech

The six-member executive committee of Volkswagen AG's supervisory board has declared CEO Martin Winterkorn "the best possible" chief executive for the company and says it will renew his contract in 2016.

The committee's members include Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who cast doubt on Winterkorn a week ago by telling Der Spiegel he had distanced himself from the CEO. The remark, which lacked an explanation, instantly threw VW's top management ranks into turmoil, sparking widespread speculation that Winterkorn's career at VW was over.

But today the board's supervisory committee declared its full support for Winterkorn, saying he will continue as CEO "with the same vigor and success as before."

Piech, who has ruled VW with an autocratic hand for two decades, turned 78 today. He is scheduled to retire in 2017. The VW executive committee did not comment on his future with the company.