VW has announced plans to extend the contract of chief executive Martin Winterkorn until the end of 2018.
VW is a major force in the automotive business and is looking to become the world’s number 1 for vehicle sales, and wishes to topple Toyota from that position.
In a statement released by VW, the executive committee of the supervisory board had unanimously agreed to submit the proposed contract extension at its next board meeting on September 25.
The resolution is a sign of strong confidence in Dr Winterkorn, who has been responsible for the Volkswagen Group’s 12 brands – including Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Skoda, Seat and VW – since January 2007 and whose current contract was due to expire early next year.
Dr Winterkorn was involved in an internal power struggle with former chairman Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and patriarch of the Porsche family which owns 51 percent of voting rights at Volkswagen which in April led to the resignation of Dr Piech, who, it is claimed, felt that Dr Winterkorn was no longer up to the job.
However, it ended with Dr Piech falling on his sword.
