Annika Falkengren.
Volkswagen across the board are now on the hunt for a new chairman after the 78-year-old Ferdinand Piech at the weekend left the post after losing a power struggle in which he tried to dedicate the vehicle manufacturer’s CEO Martin Winterkorn. It writes Automotive News.
The former union leader Berthold Huber took over as acting president. He will lead the AGM on 5 May in Hannover, but is not seen as a likely successor to Piech.
It will not be an easy fight to find a candidate that both satisfy both sides in the Porsche Piech- family, who together have 51 percent of the vote, while the state of Lower Saxony owns 20 percent and gulfstaten Qatar owns 17 percent. Traditionally, unions have also a great influence in Volkswagen.
Martin Winterkorn is a logical candidate to become president, but the problem is that then there will be a vacuum in the CEO post to be replaced. One possible candidate as president, the 71-year-old Wolfgang Porsche, a cousin of Ferdinand Piech.
Volkswagen complete board consists of full 20 persons and the neutral candidates are few. It’s really just Annika Falkengren, CEO of SEB, which is not associated with any of the three major owners or unions. She lacks the engineering background and has only been on the board since 2011.
Another name mentioned as a strong candidate is the 66-year-old Wolfgang Reitzle. He has experience from the automotive industry with leadership positions in BMW and Ford and is now chairman of the supplier Continental. No new president is not expected to have time to get ready before the Annual General Meeting on May 5
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