Currently reading: VW Group Chairman Ferdinand Piech resigns
Towering force in rise of the VW Group is forced to stand down

VW Group Chairman Ferdinand Piech has resigned.

The announcement comes after Piech, 78, lost the backing of Volkswagen's steering committee after a battle with Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn.

"The members of the steering committee came to a consensus that, in the light of the past weeks, the mutual trust necessary for successful cooperation was no longer there," the six-member steering committee said in a statement.

"Against this background, Professor Doctor Ferdinand K. Piech resigned from his office as chairman as well as all his supervisory board mandates within the Volkswagen group with immediate effect."

Earlier this month Piech - who along with the Porsche family controls 51% of the VW Group, the second largest car maker in the world - was quoted as saying he had "distanced" himself from CEO Winterkorn, bringing into public a row over the levels of profits within the VW Group and its failure to make inroads in to the American market.

Deputy Chairman Berthold Huber will assume interim leadership of the board until the election of a new chairman, Volkswagen said in a statement. Piech's wife, Ursula, has also resigned from the supervisory board.

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johnfaganwilliams 27 April 2015

Wither Bugatti now?

Piech, who by the way is also a serious philanderer I'm told, was the architect of the Bugatti revival which has cost the corporation millions possibly billions. Will the bean counters move in for the kill now?
ACCobra427 27 April 2015

Audi in F1?

Might we see Audi show an active interest in F1 now the beef with Bernie has gone?
Flatus senex 27 April 2015

Will the vehicles become less fuddy duddy to look at now?

Perhaps so but Winterkorn (like me) is hardly in the first flush of youth!