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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Porsche has finally secured control of Volkswagen by pushing its share ownership above 35 per cent. This buys sufficient votes on the board to dictate the major management decisions at the Skoda-to-Bugatti group.
"Today's step is a further milestone in our goal to increase our stake in Volkswagen to 50 per cent," says Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking.
But whether this step is sufficient to halt the infighting that has engulfed the two sides, still remains to be seen.
Porsche scion Ferdinand Piech (pictured) is said to be trying to oust Wiedeking over differences in future strategy, while Wolfgang Porsche is said to be doing the same to Piech.
The Volkswagen works council, a powerful body representing workers, is also resisting Porsche's takeover amid worries that heavy job cuts feature in Porsche's long-term vision for VW.
An interesting legal twist is that VW employees will now sit on Porsche's works council and supervisory board, which has a powerful veto on strategy. Further heated board meetings seem pretty much assured thanks to this development.
With all the internal strife raging, it's not surprising that Porsche's statement on its 35 per cent shareholding refers optimistically to "looking forward to continuing and intensifying our co-operation with the management board of VW".
Differences over future strategy have previously spilled out in public. Porsche, for example, believes there is too much product overlap in the Audi, Seat and VW ranges.
And there are concerns in the up-market echelons of the VW Group of Audi, Bentley and Bugatti that Porsche wants to eradicate competition to its models and force technical solutions from its R&D labs.
Julian Rendell
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