Volkswagen's supervisory board was set to meet in Wolfsburg on Friday, less than two weeks after chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder announced his surprise resignation. The board was expected to confirm Audi chairman Martin Winterkorn as his replacement, with Winterkorn due to take office in January.
The meeting was further complicated by reports in the Financial Times Deutschland and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the core VW brand and a key architect of plans to cut 20,000 German jobs, would also resign, possibly to join a US automaker. Some analysts speculated he could return to Chrysler, where he previously worked.
Meanwhile, German truck maker MAN formally launched a hostile 10.3 billion euro bid for Swedish rival Scania, a move VW has opposed in favor of a three-way merger also involving its Brazilian truck operations. VW had urged MAN and Scania to reach an amicable solution by Friday.
Separately, Porsche announced plans to raise its VW stake from 27.4 percent to 29.9 percent, just below the 30 percent threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover offer. The move is seen as strengthening the influence of VW supervisory board chairman Ferdinand Piech, whose family controls Porsche.
In a further blow, prosecutors indicted former VW board member Peter Hartz on charges of approving illegal bonuses used to fund a sex-and-bribery scandal that emerged the previous year.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.