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Winterkorn will leave remaining VW posts by end of the month

After stepping down as chief executive of the Volkswagen Group last month, Martin Winterkorn still retains a few key positions within and related to the German automaker. According to the latest reports, he's set to resign from those positions as well in the coming days. Aside from his former position as chairman of VW's executive board, Winterkorn has also served (and continues to serve at present) as chairman of the supervisory boards of Audi, truck manufacturer Scania (which is owned by VW), and the group's Truck & Bus division (of which Scania is part alongside Man). He's also the chief executive of Volkswagen's largest stakeholder Porsche SE, having taken up the position after the Porsche/Piech family enterprise acquired its majority stake in the group that also subsumed the sports car manufacturer. In what could prove a strong indicator of things to come, and according to the report from Reuters, Winterkorn was not present at a recent meeting of Audi's board. In his place, the meeting was presided over by deputy chairman Berthold Huber. The former labor leader also served as interim chairman of the VW board after Ferdinand Piech's departure but before CFO Hans Dieter Potsch was named to the post. The companies in question have yet to make any announcements regarding Winterkorn's remaining positions, or confirm the reports regarding his future. However parties close to the automaker and its owners reportedly expect the resignations from those positions to come as well before the end of the month, if not before the week is out. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: JOERG KOCH/AFP/Getty Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Porsche Volkswagen Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal martin winterkorn Scania truck and bus gmbh

Porsche 912 is no longer the brand's black sheep

If you haven't looked recently, prices for many vintage Porsche 911s are now well out of the realm for mortal men to purchase. However, the growing values have their advantages because they mean that the 912 is being better accepted as a member of the Porsche family. In a new video, Petrolicious talks to one owner about his mildly modified example while the coupe zips through the backroads and city streets of France. Launched around the time of the 911, the 912 shared its body but retained the four-cylinder engine from the 356, rather than the new six. The older mill helped make the 912 cheaper to buy, but it also tarnished the coupe in the eyes of Porsche fans for years. Much like the four-cylinder 914 and 924, the 912 just seemed like a black sheep in the shadow of its more powerful brother. Following two massive changes to his life, Julien Borne bought a 1967 912 as a project to get back on the road. After hours of welding, wrenching and beating out panels by hand in his grandparents' neglected country house, he crafted this gorgeous example. Check out the video to hear his story, as Petrolicious shows why the model's stigma is wearing off.

Is Porsche planning a GT5?

A trademark application filed in Europe suggests Porsche could be planning a GT5 model to slot at the bottom of its track-focused sports car lineup. The German automaker's GT skunkworks division in Weissach earned its reputation with enthusiasts producing the GT3 and GT3 RS versions of the 911, and previously offered GT2 and even GT1 models as well (although the latter was a limited homologation special). It recently extended itself slightly downmarket with the launch of the Cayman GT4, but this trademark application – already reportedly accepted in Germany and currently being reviewed by the European office – suggests an even more accessible model could be on its way, Autocar reports. Just what form a GT5 would take, however, remains a mystery. The numerical progression would suggest that Porsche is planning a hardcore version of an even smaller sports car, if such a project ever got off the ground to slot in below the Boxster and Cayman. Given that the 911 has bred both GT2 and GT3 versions, Weissach could alternatively be planning an additional GT version of the Cayman, or planning a hardcore version of the Boxster. The prospect of a GT5 version of the Macan, Cayenne, or Panamera seems unlikely as the alphanumeric designation has never been applied to anything other than a two-door coupe, but then we never really know what the future will bring: Before 2002 Porsche had never done anything with more than two doors altogether. These designations are typically borrowed from their corresponding racing class, and of course there is no GT5 category. But then most of these racing classes have been amalgamated into GT3 anyway, unless Porsche is planning on using the name for its own entry-level spec racing series. But at this point we're just spitballing. It's just as likely that the company has simply filed the trademark application to keep its options open for the future. Related Video: