Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking resigns

Porsche chairman Wendelin Wiedeking has bowed to mounting pressure in announcing that he will step down immediately. The resignation came Thursday, following a surprise meeting of the company's supervisory board at its Weissach R&D headquarters outside of Stuttgart, Germany, on Wednesday night.

Wiedeking's announcement comes after months of tense and public infighting following Porsche's failed attempt to wrest control of Volkswagen, which left it with $12.7 billion in debt, and slowing sales in key markets such as North America.

Having failed to secure enough funding to cover maturing loans on stock options taken out to fund the takeover bid of VW, Wiedeking's departure is being seen as an acceptance of blame for Porsche's worsening financial situation--the result of what many financial-industry experts describe as overambitious growth targets.

Last-ditch efforts by Wiedeking in the past month to lure the Middle East nation of Qatar into becoming a major Porsche shareholder apparently were blocked by the Porsche and Piech families, which together control the company via a majority shareholding.

Wiedeking leaves Porsche after a distinguished 16-year career in which he took the company from virtual bankruptcy in 1993 to become the world's most profitable carmaker on a per-unit basis. Among the models added to the German sports-car maker's lineup under his rein were the Boxster, the Cayenne, the Carrera GT, the Cayman and the Panamera.

Volkswagen is now expected to absorb Porsche into its nine-strong portfolio of brands--which include Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Scania, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Volkswagen commercial vehicles--at a supervisory board meeting planned to take place Thursday.

Joining Wiedeking in departing Porsche is chief financial officer Holger Haerter. Wiedeking will be replaced by Michael Macht, board member in charge of production and logistics, and Haerter will be replaced by Thomas Edig, board member in charge of human resources.

Wiedeking will receive a severance payment of $71 million (50 million euros), half of which he has pledged to charity. Haerter is in line to receive a $17 million (12 million euros) payout.

By Greg Kable