Volkswagen board extends the contract of Bernd Pischetsrieder

Volkswagen AG's supervisory board unanimously decided to extend the contract of Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder, Chairman of the Board of Management, for another 5 years, until April 16, 2012, ending speculation that the German automaker would change leadership.

In the past two months, Pischetsrieder's future as the Chairman of the VW board was said to be unsafe, as the labor representatives who hold 10 of the 20 board seats, where against his aggressive cost-cutting plan which among others, included 20.000 job-cuts by 2008.

Adding to those speculations, was a quote from former VW Chairman and present Chairman of Porsche's supervisory board, Ferdinand Piech, who said that Pischetsrieder's future was an "open issue."

The announcement for the extension of Pischetsrieder's future in VW came late on Tuesday after a supervisory board meeting in Hamburg, Germany, one day before VW’s annual shareholder meeting. Although terms of the new contract where not released, according to sources, Pischetsrieder re-election has said to be connected with the smoothening of his plans for reform, including keeping VW's component plants.

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