New Chief at VW

[blake at clockworm.com (Blake)]

did anybody see this (roz chast is my fav active cartoonist)

<http://www.cartoonbank.com/assets/1/121931_m.gif>

On 11/8/06, julie@menloparkrandd.com <julie@menloparkrandd.com> wrote:
> 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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