Monday 27th April 2015

Piech resigns from VW's supervisory board

Shock outcome to ongoing power struggle at the top of VW

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An unprecedented power struggle at the very top of the Volkswagen Group between boss Martin Winterkorn and chairman of the supervisory board (and Ferdinand Porsche's grandson, on the right in the lead image) Ferdinand Piech has reached its dramatic conclusion. And if you had your money on the wily Piech having his way you stand to lose because in a couple of terse statements from Porsche SE and Volkswagen it's been confirmed he is out.

Winterkorn (left) and the Piechs all smiles at Geneva

"We deeply regret the developments of the last few days," says Wolfgang Porsche in his role as head of principal VW group shareholder Porsche Automobil Holding SE. "We thank Ferdinand Piech for his decades of extraordinary and highly successful service to the Volkswagen Group."

For its part VW has issued a statement of its own. "The members of the Executive Committee have unanimously determined that in view of the background of the last weeks the mutual trust necessary for successful cooperation no longer exists." And with that Piech and his wife Ursula - also a member of the supervisory board - 'resigned' from their positions.

The soap opera and machinations within VW's ruling elite involve family feuds, the local state, powerful unions and more besides. And at the centre of it Piech's power seemed indomitable. But what started as a seemingly minor quip about his lack of faith in Winterkorn's leadership has spiralled, just months after the pair were seated together in front of PH at the Geneva show watching the unveiling of the 911 GT3 RS. They were all smiles then...

Piech (right) at the presentation of the 917

Piech's legacy, from the Porsche 917 to Audi Quattro to the Bugatti Veyron and Volkswagen XL1, demonstrates his visionary ability as both an engineer and corporate heavyweight, proving talent beyond family connections. Is this the last we'll hear of him? Winterkorn and his supporters may have won this fight but whether he'll be sleeping easily tonight or not is another matter entirely.

[Goofnik]

American here. Tremendous respect for the man, and... agree with him regarding Winterkorn. Winterkorn's plan to turn around US sales of the VW brand (again, not Audi, Porsche, etc.) was not only completely ineffective, but aside from an early bump in initial sales from cheaper product, looks like a complete misread. Granted, the VW brand has bungled the US market for decades, whereas Audi, Porsche and Bentley are the strongest they've ever been. Seriously, have they considered selling a 3-row SUV like every other auto manufacturer? As much as I hate them, people buy them in droves.

In the UK, "buy a Golf" is relatively common advice (so says all the Brits and Scots I work with). Here, people will cock their head like a confused puppy, due to a combination of both a notoriously price conscious market (which in fairness, Winterkorn tried to address with the Jetta/Passat), a difficult-to-explain disdain of hatchbacks, and that Toyota/Honda reliability was head and shoulders above VW for decades. Except in the midwest, where you buy from the Big 3 (even Dodge/Chrysler, which makes utterly terrible products on the whole) or GTFO.

I just hope Winterkorn and whomever else in charge of the VW brand's direction for the American market realize that it's is going to be a long battle. In parts of the US like the south/midwest, it's also one they're likely to never see significant success with unless they're willing to wait *decades*.

Edited by Goofnik on Sunday 26th April 00:58