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Piech's dismissal from VW came after failed coup to oust Winterkorn

When the Volkswagen board ousted its chairman Ferdinand Piech over the weekend, we knew right away it had something to do with disapproval of chief executive Martin Winterkorn. And now we have more details of how that struggle reportedly came to a head. According to Reuters, Piech undertook a cloak-and-dagger campaign to oust Winterkorn as CEO, even after having publicly endorsed the top executive's leadership of the company. Piech reportedly focused on other members of his family – descendants of Ferdinand Porsche and majority stakeholders in Volkswagen – to install Porsche chief Matthias Mueller as group CEO in Winterkorn's stead. But Piech failed in his campaign, and was given an ultimatum by the board: either show yourself out or we'll kick you out. And so he resigned. A big part of Winterkorn's rescue and Piech's failure reportedly came at the hands of labor representatives on the VW board, like Berthold Huber who was appointed as acting chairman following Piech's departure. That may leave Winterkorn still in charge, but may leave him beholden to the unions even more than before. Winterkorn has been undertaking a concerted campaign to cut overhead costs at VW, but the trade unions have reportedly been blocking many of the steps the chief exec has proposed. The next big question is who will ultimately replace Piech in the long term at the head of the board table. Winterkorn could get the nod, leaving the company to find a new CEO to take his place. Another likely scenario, however, would be another member of the Porsche/Piech family taking the helm and leaving Winterkorn in place. Whether Ferdinand Piech ultimately sells his 13.2 percent stake in the company (likely to other members of his family) or holds on to it and exerts influence behind the scenes is an open question. One way or another, any major appointment at the head of either the management or supervisory board will require support from the Porsche/Piech family, from the works council of labor representatives and from the state government of Lower Saxony, so the process of filling Piech's vacancy will likely prove anything but straightforward. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Thomas Kienzle/APN Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Volkswagen martin winterkorn

CEO says Volkswagen's buying spree is over

After adding Italian motorcycle icon Ducati to its stable and spending $5.6 billion on the rest of Porsche, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn says he's done shopping for a while.
"We have enough to do at the moment in taking our twelve brands to where we want to be," Winterkorn tells German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Audi rumored to leave top-tier endurance racing after 2017

Volkswagen's ongoing diesel scandal is turning out to be an expensive problem for the German automaker. With a recent settlement expected to cost the company up to $14.7 billion, the company is scrambling to find ways to save cash. In light of this, Audi could be pulling out of the highest class of endurance racing, which it has dominated for years. A report from Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, indicates that Audi has already finalized the automaker's departure from the World Endurance Championship's top-tier LMP1 class after the 2017 season. Another report by Autocar cites an unnamed insider to corroborate the LMP1 exit rumors. The report fingers the VW Group's ongoing diesel scandal's financial fallout as the main culprit for Audi bowing out of LMP1. The move to could also be due to the group's decision to move away from diesel technology. Audi's LMP1 car, the R18, utilizes a V6 turbo-diesel engine. The Porsche 919 Hybrid, on the other hand, uses 2.0-liter turbocharged V4 engine that runs on gasoline. Audi has won the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans 13 times since 1999, making Audi an unstoppable force in endurance racing. Porsche, Audi's corporate sibling, reentered endurance racing with a LMP1 competitor of its own in 2014 and won the constructor's championship last year. Audi's decision to leave LMP1 could give Porsche a shot at creating its own Le Mans-winning dynasty. Autocar reports that Audi is expected to continue fielding cars in other WEC classes, like GT3 and GT4, and perhaps the brand will even enter Formula E. We reached out to Audi for some clarification on the matter and a spokesperson stated that the rumors were "pure speculation at this point." Related Video: News Source: Auto Motor und Sport, AutocarImage Credit: Audi Motorsports Rumormill Audi Porsche Volkswagen Diesel Vehicles Hybrid Racing Vehicles vw diesel scandal rumor world endurance championship wec porsche 919 hybrid