Porsche plans coup against Piëch

[Dave]

trouble brewing for the chairman....

Dave
'03 rs6
'04 allroad tdi

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Report: Porsche plans coup against Piëch


September 15, 2008 06:01 CET

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche has gained majority
support among the two clans that own his family's carmaker to remove cousin
Ferdinand Piëch from his post as Volkswagen chairman, a German magazine
reported.

"It is not a question of 'if', rather 'when' and 'how'," Focus quoted one
Porsche manager as saying.

The news magazine report ahead of its publication on Monday comes after a
turbulent VW supervisory board meeting on Friday, where Piëch broke ranks
with the other three Porsche representatives on the board.

Porsche had been quoted in comments made yesterday to Focus as saying of
Piëch: "I am horrified by the behavior of the chairman."

The challenge is the result of long-running tensions between Piëch, part
owner of Porsche, and his cousin over control of Volkswagen -- their
company's largest investment in which the sports car maker is poised to take
the majority this year.

Piëch, who has run Audi and Volkswagen as CEO before taking over as chairman
in 2002, is a calculating strategist who has survived several coup attempts.

His power base stems from close allies like VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and the
unwavering support from VW's powerful unions, which oppose Porsche's
attempts to limit their influence.

Volkswagen declined to discuss the report while Porsche was not immediately
available for comment.