Prof Martin Winterkorn has emerged victorious in the battle for leadership of the Volkswagen Group after being directly criticised by VW supervisory board boss Ferdinand Piëch. 

VW posted a shorted statement on its website this morning confirming that Winterkorn has not only survived the withdrawal of Piëch’s support but is also likely to have his contract extended beyond 2016.

The rebuff of Piëch by the supervisory board – which includes worker’s representatives and the prime minister of Lower Saxony – is unprecedented.

Piëch – a member of the Porsche family – has been seen as the VW Group’s main player since he became chairman of the board of VW management in 1993.

Piëch drove Audi upmarket, led VW out of near collapse in the early 1990s and drove the policy of buying brands such as Bentley to extend the group’s automotive footprint.

The decision to extend Winterkorn’s contract in direct defiance of Piëch’s move to unseat Winterkorn will now be seen as the end for Piëch’s extraordinary reign as the company’s master engineer and strategist.

Celebrating his 78th birthday today, Piëch was expected to stand down from the supervisory board by 2017. However, finding himself out of step with the supervisory board will trigger a frenzy of speculation about his own future.

Piëch’s criticisms of VW’s current troubles – particularly the low profit margins of the VW brand and its poor performance in the US – remain valid, but his ability to force the VW board to change direction has been effectively ended.

This is Volkswagen’s official statement.

“The executive committee of the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG states that Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn is the best possible chairman of the board of management for Volkswagen.

“The executive committee places great importance on the fact that Prof. Dr. Winterkorn will pursue his role as chairman of the board of management with the same vigour and success as before, and that he has the full support of the committee in doing so.

The executive committee will now propose to the supervisory board to extend Prof. Dr. Winterkorn's current contract in the supervisory board meeting of February 2016.”

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