By Priya Kumari
Founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the company Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG provided services related to motor consulting. This was before they went on to build the car brand ‘Volkswagen’. The debut of the Volkswagen Beetle marked their inception. Many components of this paved the way for a different design under the name of Porsche 64 in 1939. In 2007, the old Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG was renamed to Porsche SE. It then became a holding company for the families’ stake in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH (50.1%) and Volkswagen AG (50.7%). Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, in turn, held 100% of the old Porsche AG. Ferdinand Piech, particularly, had a 13.6% stake in Porsche SE.
Pervasive conflicts and libels
The brand has been in the limelight recently over the prospects of an old family feud coming to a close. Ferdinand Piech and Wolfgang Porsche inherited the legacy of the grand old car brand Porsche. Piech had initially alleged that Porsche and other top executives in the Volkswagen supervisory board might have been aware of the Volkswagen’s emissions scandal much before it was known to the world. Notably, Volkswagen admitted to have rigged 11 million diesel engines to deceit pollution control tests, in September 2015. In addition to a tarnished reputation worldwide, it has cost the company $24 billion in fines.
The allegations have made some family members to demand the ousting of Piech from Porsche SE’s supervisory board. In 2015, Piech was ousted from the post of Volkswagen’s Chairman on account of his criticism of the Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, who was supported by Wolfgang Porsche and other family members. Piech was not satisfied with the outlook of Volkswagen under the leadership of Winterkorn. He had wanted for his wife to succeed him.
Terminating the family feud
Ferdinand Porsche has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the automaking business. He supervised the Quattro four-wheel drive technology of the Audi and strengthened the brand on grounds of its excellent technology. He contributed in making Volkswagen a global brand through a series of acquisitions of heavy trucks and high performance cars companies. On the other hand, Wolfram Porsche has largely kept himself distanced from the brand Porsche.
To put an end to this fiasco, Piech is in talks to sell a significant part of his stake, valued at roughly €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion), to the other family members. This is expected to put to bed the outstanding struggles of one of the world’s oldest car companies.
Featured Image Source – Car magazine
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