After 53 years with Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen, Ferdinand Piech may have finally worn out his welcome. A grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the chairman of the Volkswagen supervisory board has gone to war with CEO Martin Winterkorn, but it seems that the rest of the Porsche/Piech families, along with management and the unions are backing Winterkorn. This has left Piech isolated on the board and potentially at risk of finally loosing control of the world's second largest automaker.
Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech faces resistance within the automaker’s supervisory board to his criticism of CEO Martin Winterkorn, deepening a leadership crisis at the automaker. Piech publicly withdrew his confidence in Winterkorn but major VW power players including the powerful works council, the state of Lower Saxony and Piech’s cousin, Wolfgang Porsche, rallied to Winterkorn’s side.