The head of Volkswagen laid out with fervour Thursday the biggest European carmaker's future under the guidance of Porsche, calling it the start of “an entirely new era,” one that unions reject.
VW chairman Martin Winterkorn appeared convinced that the growing power of its main shareholder would allow the group to fulfill a dream, that of becoming the leading auto manufacturer worldwide.
“The Piech and Porsche families have written automobile history,” Winterkorn told a press conference in reference also to Ferdinand Piech, a former VW boss who currently heads the Porsche supervisory board and has worked hard to merge the two companies.
VW's goal was clear, to “catch up and pass” Japanese auto maker Toyota and become the biggest car group in the world by 2018.
“Our competitors understand the enormous potential of this partnership,” Winterkorn said in reference to the Porsche-VW tie up.
“They know a player is emerging here that with its reach, its profitability and its innovative force, will be the best auto manufacturer in the world.”
Early this month, Porsche directors were given a green light to increase their holding in VW to a majority stake, a process that will probably take some months but the outcome of which does not appear to be in doubt, from Porsche's point of view.
VW said Thursday it would propose at a general assembly on April 24 that Wolfgang Porsche be given a seat on the VW supervisory board, a move that would weaken further the position of VW workers who are concerned by Porsche's rising influence.
Bernd Osterloh, head of the VW workers' council and a delegate of the IG Metall labour union, which represents around 90 percent of VW workers, has launched repeated attacks on the group's primary shareholder.
On Thursday, he published a statement in the weekly Die Ziet entitled “Normal does not mean neo-liberal,” in reference to a debate on the so-called “VW law” that had given workers and the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia a veto over strategic decisions at the car maker for 40 years.
The law was struck down in October by a European court, but workers want a new version that would guarantee the location of factories in Germany, while Porsche has called for VW to be considered as “a normal company.”
“He who believes that normal means neo-liberal, and that we can therefore be deprived of our rights, misunderstands the special character of Volkswagen and the pride of its workers,” Osterloh said.
Long close to the union, VW management has taken a certain distance from the conflict this time.
“Emotions and passions are at play but I am confident” that a resolution can be found, VW human resources director Horst Neumann said.
As for a new VW law, Winterkorn declined to comment on Thursday, preferring to wait until a project being prepared by the German government has been finalised.
