Martin Winterkorn to steer Volkswagen till 2018

Following a resolution taken by Volkswagen's supervisory board, the contract of CEO Martin Winterkorn has been extended until at least the end of 2018.

Chairman of VW's supervisory board Berthold Huber announced the extension of Martin Winterkorn’s tenure, saying: "Together with Professor Martin Winterkorn at the helm we will continue on our successful path of recent years and systematically implement the goals of Strategy 2018."

Speculations about Winterkorn remaining at the helm of the Volkswagen Group came about after he was criticised by former board chairman, Ferdinand Piëch. Having resigned earlier in April after a situation of mistrust within the board about his position arose, Piëch was seen as the VW Group’s main player after becoming chairman of the board in 1993. In a statement issued at the time of Piëch's resignation, Volkswagen said: "The members of the steering committee came to a consensus that, in the light of the past weeks, the mutual trust necessary for successful cooperation was no longer there."

This year, Volkswagen outdid Toyota to become the world's largest carmaker by sales. Worldwide, the VW group sold 5.04 million cars versus 5.02 million cars from Toyota in the first half of 2015. The extension of  Winterkorn's contract will be officially submitted during the VW Group’s next meeting to be held at the end of September.