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VW CFO Hans Dieter Potsch nominated as new board chairman

The search for a successor to Ferdinand Piech has come to an end as the Volkswagen Group has nominated a new chairman. The Executive and Nomination committees of VW's Supervisory Board have put their weight behind one Hans Dieter Potsch, who currently serves on the company's management board as its chief financial officer. He's expected to continue in his current role until November when an extraordinary general meeting of the supervisory board can be called to confirm his nomination and a replacement CFO can be found to take his place. As you may recall, the chairmanship of the Volkswagen board fell until recently to Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and one of the principals of the Porsche family that holds over 50 percent ownership in Volkswagen through Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Piech went head to head with VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and ultimately lost. Piech resigned and Winterkorn is about to have his term as chief executive extended through the end of 2018. In Piech's place, former union head Berthold Huber was named as interim chairman, but is now referred to in the statement below once again as deputy chairman instead. An Austrian native, Potsch is an industrial engineer by training. He started his career at BMW where he ultimately served as group controller, and subsequently served as CFO and as chairman at a number of German corporations. Potsch joined the VW management board in 2003, initially without portfolio, and soon assumed the financial portfolio – a role he has held until now. In 2009 he took on the additional role of chief financial officer at the Porsche holding company, whose supervisory board representatives are the parties proposing Potsch's nomination as the group's new chairman – even though he is not, strictly speaking, one of their own. In a related development, it appears that Julia Kuhn-Piech will be leaving her board seat sooner than expected. The departing chairman Ferdinand Piech opposed his niece's nomination to the board in his place, and now she'll apparently be stepping down to make way for the family's new choice of chairman.

Volkswagen taps Porsche chief for board

Matthias Mueller was promoted to the top position at Porsche in 2010 after a successful stint of developing model lines during his 36 years with the company, mainly at Audi. Having shown the same prowess while overseeing Porsche for the past five years, German outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that Mueller will be promoted to the management board of the Volkswagen Group, according to a leaked copy of an agenda for the meeting. It's said that a new spot is being created for him, one that will put him in charge of "overseeing cooperation" among Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and Porsche. While other group executives are known to hold positions on the board and with brands, or across brands, it isn't clear yet whether Mueller will keep his spot at the CEO of Porsche after the promotion. One thing that is certain is the 61-year-old Mueller doesn't see himself in line for Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn's job in 2016, having told FAZ this month, "It's no solution to put a 63-year-old at the head of Volkswagen." News Source: Reuters, Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Porsche Volkswagen Performance volkswagen group matthias mueller promotion

VW confirms development of 10-speed dual clutch, 134-hp/liter diesel

Each year, the Vienna International Motor Symposium showcases some of the up-and-coming technologies automakers are engineering for the use in passenger cars, and Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn revealed some big developments VW is working on for its future products. Winterkorn discussed a multi-faceted approach that VW is looking to reduce its fleet fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
Some of the bigger news he discussed included a "high-performance" diesel engine that will produce 134 horsepower per liter and a 10-speed DSG automatic transmission. While no specific applications were mentioned, we can only hope this is for the Audi R4 we keep hearing about.
Another topic he touched on that caused us to perk up our ears was had to do with VW's plug-in hybrid technology. While we know the PHEV versions of the Audi A3 and Porsche Panamera are on the way, Winterkorn also said that these two models will be followed up by Golf, Passat, Audi A6 and Porsche Cayenne plug-in models. Scroll down for a press release highlighting the automaker's future fuel-saving initiatives.