VW’s Piech Criticized for Comment on CEO Winterkorn

Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech is drawing blunt criticism for a Der Spiegel report on Friday in which he is quoted as suggesting his heir apparent, CEO Martin Winterkorn, will be passed over.

VW board member and Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche dismissed Piech's comments as "his private opinion" and said they had "not been coordinated with the family."

Board member Bernd Osterloh, VW's works council chief, has publicly backed Winterkorn. The government of Lower Saxony, which owns slightly more than 20% of VW, also is voicing support for the CEO.

Bloomberg News notes that the Porsche family, VW workers and Lower Saxony constitute a 14-seat majority on VW's 20-member supervisory board. Thus they could block a move by Piech to push Winterkorn aside.

In 2006 Piech installed Winterkorn as CEO after orchestrating the firing of his predecessor, Bernd Pischetsrieder, who joined Daimler AG's board in February 2014. But observers point out Winterkorn's spectacular effort to challenge Toyota Motor Corp. as the world's largest carmaker, make him a strong candidate for the chairmanship when Piech's contract expires in early 2017.