Thursday, May 21, 2009
VW in driving seat over Porsche merger
Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech has signalled that the volume carmaker is in the driving seat of its proposed merger with Porsche.
The move came as Germany's financial watchdog launched another market manipulation probe against Porsche.
Mr Piech said it had been decided that the headquarters of the combined company - which he proposed to be named Auto Union after the carmaker created through the merger of several brands during the Great Depression - would be in Wolfsburg, where Volkswagen is based.
He has also indicated that he favoured Martin Winterkorn, chief executive of Volkswagen, as head of the new group, spurring fresh doubts about the future of Porsche's management team.
Mr Piech said it was unlikely that Wendelin Wiedeking, Porsche's chief executive, would be happy to stay on in a more 'lowly' role.
Porsche declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Bafin, the regulator, launched its second investigation in seven months after a German press report alleged that Porsche had informed Lower Saxony, Volkswagen's second largest stakeholder, in February 2008 about its intentions to lift its stake in the volume manufacturer to 75 per cent.
DATED: 21.05.09
FEED: AW
