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New Chief at VW



He and Rumseld are going hunting with Cheney.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Chris [mailto:open.seas@verizon.net]
>Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2006 08:00 PM
>To: 'Org, Scirocco'
>Subject: Re: New Chief at VW
>
>Must be a Republican with close ties to Bush and Foley. What state was
>he running in? I didn't see his name on any ballot. Oh, I see, it's the 
>"state of Lower Saxony". Just below South Dakota.
>
>Chris
>
>julie@menloparkrandd.com wrote:
>> In a sharp reversal, Volkswagen today ousted its chief executive,
>> Bernd Pischetsrieder, six months after he appeared to win an internal
>> power struggle by signing a new contract. Skip to next
>> paragraphAndreas Rentz/Getty Images Bernd Pischetsrieder, chief
>> executive of Volkswagen, was ousted.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Volkswagen, Europe?s largest carmaker, gave no reason for the
>> decision by a select committee of its supervisory board, which voted
>> to replace Mr. Pischetsrieder with Martin Winterkorn, the head of
>> Volkswagen?s Audi division. The change will take effect at the end of
>> the year. Analysts and industry experts said the sudden shakeup bore
>> the fingerprints of Volkswagen?s influential chairman, Ferdinand K.
>> Pi?ch, who had tried to maneuver Mr. Pischetsrieder out of his post
>> earlier this year, saying he had lost the support of employees. Mr.
>> Pischetsrieder clung to his job then, partly because of support from
>> the state of Lower Saxony, one of Volkswagen?s largest shareholders.
>> But analysts said the influence of Lower Saxony has waned as
>> Volkswagen?s largest shareholder, Porsche, has tightened its grip. 
>> ?This is another step in Porsche saying, ?we will increase our
>> influence over VW,? ? said Ferdinand Dudenh?ffer, director of the
>> Center for Automotive Research in Gelsenkirchen. ?Porsche and Pi?ch
>> dominate the supervisory board of Volkswagen.? The announcement left
>> analysts baffled since Mr. Pischetsrieder?s future had seemed secure
>> in May, when Volkswagen?s board, after lengthy deliberation, extended
>> his contract for five years. It throws Volkswagen back into
>> management turmoil after a period of relative tranquillity. A courtly
>> man with a trademark Cuban cigar, Mr. Pischetsrieder, 58, has the
>> dubious distinction of having been forced out of two famous German
>> carmakers: in 1999, he was dismissed as chief executive of BMW,
>> following a calamitous investment in the British carmaker Rover. Mr.
>> Pischetsrieder?s latest troubles began a year ago when Porsche began
>> buying shares in Volkswagen. Although Porsche said it wanted to
>> shield the company from an unwelcome foreign takeover, it posed a
>> potential challenge to Mr. Pischetsrieder?s efforts to streamline
>> Volkswagen. Porsche currently owns 21.2 percent of Volkswagen and has
>> signaled its intention to raise its stake to 25.1 percent. Reports
>> surfaced today that it might buy up to 29.9 percent of Volkswagen?s
>> shares ? the most it can own without being legally required to make a
>> takeover bid. Porsche?s interests are closely intertwined with those
>> of Mr. Pi?ch. A grandson of the founder, Ferdinand Porsche, Mr. Pi?ch
>> and his family control the company. He is also Mr. Pischetsrieder?s
>> predecessor as chief executive of Volkswagen, with strong views as to
>> how that company should be run. Last February, Mr. Pi?ch publicly
>> undermined Mr. Pischetsrieder, saying it was an ?open issue? whether
>> the board would extend his contract, because of opposition to him by
>> unions and workers? representatives. Mr. Pischetsrieder was then
>> warning about sweeping job losses. Two months later, Mr. Pi?ch
>> reversed course, saying he expected the contract to be extended. The
>> prime minister of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, had thrown his
>> support behind Mr. Pischetsrieder. Some analysts believe Mr. Wulff?s
>> intervention saved the embattled chief executive. Mr. Winterkorn,
>> analysts said, is a prot?g? of Mr. Pi?ch?s. Both are talented
>> automotive engineers with less experience in overhauling companies.
>> Mr. Pischetsrieder was seeking to lower Volkswagen?s labor costs by
>> cutting jobs in its German plants and renegotiating union contracts. 
>> ?Pischetsrieder was trying to push through decisions that Pi?ch was
>> resisting,? said Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort.
>> ?Winterkorn is someone who will always do everything that Pi?ch
>> says.? Mr. Ellinghorst suggested that Porsche might be interested in
>> taking over Audi, the luxury division of Volkswagen. Mr. Winterkorn
>> has won praise recently in the German news media for closing the gap
>> between Audi and the two prime German luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz
>> and BMW. Mr. Pischetsrieder?s departure also raises questions about
>> the future of his chief lieutenant, Wolfgang Bernhard. As head of
>> Volkswagen?s core brand, Mr. Bernhard is responsible for carrying out
>> the cost-cutting plan devised by the board. A former No. 2 executive
>> at the Chrysler Group, Mr. Bernhard has been viewed as a likely
>> successor to Mr. Pischetsrieder. Analysts, however, expressed some
>> skepticism that Mr. Bernhard would be able to work with Mr.
>> Winterkorn. Mr. Bernhard?s departure would unnerve shareholders, Mr.
>> Ellinghorst said, since he is viewed as being integral to
>> Volkswagen?s campaign to reduce its costs. The shakeup also has
>> potential implications for Volkswagen?s role in a takeover battle
>> between two European truckmakers, MAN and Scania. Volkswagen had
>> acquired a stake in MAN to influence its bid for Scania, and some
>> analysts said Mr. Pi?ch might push for even more central role. ?The
>> market will not be scared simply by Pischetsrieder?s departure,? Mr.
>> Ellinghorst said. ?But the market could be scared by the two or three
>> steps that might follow from it.?
>> 
>> 
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