Europe's largest auto maker Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) will be led by Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn and Supervisory Board Chairman Ferdinand Piech for at least another five to seven years, German tabloid Bild Zeitung reports in its Sunday edition.
"I have asked Martin Winterkorn to launch the next Golf [model generation] successfully as well. Golfs come out every five to seven years. At least for that long I will cover Mr. Winterkorn's back as supervisory board chairman," Mr. Piech is cited as saying in an interview.
The 74-year-old Mr. Piech is a former CEO of Volkswagen and an influential member of the Porsche and Piech family, which controls a majority stake in Volkswagen through Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PAH3.XE).
Mr. Piech said combustion engines are set to dominate the auto industry for a long time as battery technology isn't sufficient to roll out purely electric-powered cars on a large scale anytime soon. He also believes Volkswagen is well-positioned to steer through the European car industry gloom due to its large presence in more dynamic markets abroad. Demand for new cars has been falling for almost five years in Europe and the timeframe for a recovery remains uncertain amid high unemployment and tough austerity measures to tackle the region's sovereign-debt crisis.
Newspaper website: www.bild.de
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 11, 2012 10:38 ET (15:38 GMT)
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