Five more years as Winterkorn stalks Toyota for attaining the Number One Global sales spot.
The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG unanimously extended the contract of Management Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn for another five years until the end of 2016, the company said yesterday in a statement.
Winterkorn, 63, became Chairman of the Management Board of Europe’s largest automaker on January 1, 2007, and his contract was due to expire on Dec. 31, 2011.
VW is in the midst of an ambitious expansion designed to make it the world’s largest automaker by surpassing Toyota by 2018. Winterkorn bought controlling interest in Swedish truckmaker Scania AB in 2008.
In December 2009, VW took 49.9% ownership in Porsche AG at a price of €3.9 billion amid the after effects of a reckless, leveraged and failed takeover bid of Volkswagen by Porsche that saw the ouster of Porsche chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking and chief financial officer Holger Haerter.
VW will buy the balance in 2011. VW expects that Porsche will eventually add €700 million in profits annually to its business. Critics say it is ironic that the profitable VW is also financing the Porsche takeover by issuing debt and watering its stock.
Winterkorn also wants to double production capacity in China with two new plants.
Volkswagen will also open a factory in the United States this year to build a new mid-size Passat sedan from a unique platform. Critics say billions are at risk unless the car sells out. Capacity of the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant is 150,000 cars.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
