In my recent blog ‘Four Circles Full’, I speculated on a possible Audi-Porsche conspiracy to ring the changes at Volkswagen.
The moves are already afoot. The new VW CEO and ex-Audi man, Martin Winterkorn, is fixing it so that some of his pals from Audi get the top jobs. The VW brand boss Wolfganag Bernhard looks certain to get the chop to make way for the present Audi production chief, Jochem Heizmann. Meanwhile, Audi technology chief, Ulrich Hackenberg is being groomed to become head of development for the VW Group.
I also said in my blog that Porsche’s ascendency as an influential shareholder might awake old allegiances, and that an Audi-Porsche alliance might lead to a break up of the Group, leaving ‘…socially-priced stablemates to fend for themselves’. Today it has been reported that SEAT faces increasing uncertainty about its future under Martin Winterkorn’s chairmanship. According to sources close to Winterkorn, SEAT might well find itself up for sale in the near future and already the brand is being excluded by Winterkorn from his strategic planning.
One person said to be opposed to the sale of the Spanish marque is Bernhard, and as he is on his way out Winterkorn looks like getting his way.
