Volkswagen union chief Bernd Osterloh has accused Wendelin Wiedeking of obstructing the possible merger between the two car companies and has told the Porsche SE CEO “to end his ego trip.”
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Osterloh told the Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung: “Wiedeking has not yet realised that he’s part of the problem and not part of the solution. Together, one could do a whole lot of more things if Wiedeking would end his ego trip at last.”
Porsche, which owns 51% of Volkswagen shares, has given up its quest to take over the much larger company after accumulating some EUR9bn (US$12.6bn) in debt. The sportscar maker is also in talks with Qatar about selling a stake as well as some options that can be converted into VW stock.
Wiedeking and Porsche CFO Holger Haerter backed the swoop for Volkswagen with options that allowed Porsche to profit from increases in VW’s share price. Osterloh dismissed the financial dealings, saying “optimal products and not financial market speculation” are key to a carmaker’s long-term success.
He added: “What’s clear is that we have absolutely no more trust in the current board of Porsche.”
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