vw still limiting porsche power over audi

[Dave]

the battle continues....

dave
'03 rs6 
'04 allroad tdi
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VW keeps committee limiting Porsche power


Automotive News Europe
November 24, 2008 12:00 CET

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Volkswagen's supervisory board decided on Friday to
retain for now a special committee that limits top shareholder Porsche's
power, rebuffing the sports carmaker.

Porsche has been fighting for ways to gain more control over Volkswagen, in
which it aims to have a majority stake by the end of next year, but other
shareholders and labor leaders have been pushing to limit its
decision-making power.

The state of Lower Saxony has said it would use its blocking minority to
fight Porsche's plans to hike its stake and gain access to Volkswagen's cash
flows.

Labor representatives forced Porsche to seek board approval from the special
committee each time it planned a cooperation with VW's luxury unit Audi -- a
potential rival to Porsche's own business.

The move to keep the committee came as a surprise on Friday, since Porsche
less than a month ago said Volkswagen's chairman Ferdinand Piech would table
a motion to dissolve the committee.

Volkswagen said the state of Lower Saxony and Porsche had agreed with VW's
labor representatives and its supervisory board to "optimize" the committee.
It did not say whether it was planning specific measures.

Several people familiar with the matter said that the company aimed to merge
two separate committees in a compromise.

One of the committees, which had been demanded by labor representatives,
approves planned cooperation with Audi ahead of time, giving labor leaders a
chance to block plans early on. The second one looks into the cooperation
after the fact.

Volkswagen shares ended up 4.3 percent at 365.00 euros, while Porsche shares
were down 2.1 percent at 46.18 euro