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Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, who survived
the public showdown that triggered Piech's resignation last
month, told shareholders on Tuesday the group would tackle the
trouble spots that Piech complained about in provoking the
leadership crisis.
"It is good that we have returned to calmer waters and that we
have clarity about our future direction," Winterkorn said at
Volkswagen's (VW) annual shareholder meeting. "We cannot and
must not stand still."
VW, Europe's biggest carmaker, is cutting costs at its namesake
car brand in a bid to improve profitability, while also battling
to revive its fortunes in North America and build a trucks
business to challenge sector leader Daimler <DAIGn.DE>.
Piech, who retains a stake in VW and has clashed with the group
about board appointments since his departure, did not attend the
shareholder meeting.
Winterkorn said the supervisory board's steering committee and
board members were working hard to swiftly find a new chairman
to replace former IG Metall union chief Berthold Huber, who is
acting as interim chairman.
However Stephan Weil, governor of Lower Saxony, VW's No. 2
stakeholder, told reporters that VW would not be over-hasty.
He declined to comment on whether the supervisory board had
agreed a roadmap for the search at its meeting on Monday.
In a bid to address a long-standing criticism of its set-up, VW
announced the creation of a truck holding company to combine its
heavy-duty commercial vehicle brands MAN and Scania, aiming to
boost synergies between them.
Winterkorn addressed VW's business challenges in his speech to
shareholders and paid tribute to Piech, who dominated the
company for more than two decades.
"The group and its people have much to thank Piech for," he
said. "We and I have tremendous respect for his lifetime
achievement."
The former chairman's notion of creating an all-encompassing
automotive group that includes everything from motorcycles and
small city cars to 40-tonne trucks was in full display at the
Hanover exhibition center where almost 3,000 VW shareholders
gathered.
(Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Mark Potter)
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