Piech resigns as VW chairman over management dispute

Ferdinand Piech has resigned as chairman of Volkswagen, the company announced.

In a statement, VW said the 78-year-old Piech had resigned due to a "lack of mutual trust" among VW's six-member steering committee.

"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," committee said in a statement. "Against this background, Professor Doctor Ferdinand K. Piech resigned from his office as chairman as well as all his supervisory board mandates within the Volkswagen group with immediate effect," the statement said.

"The uncertainty had to be ended today," said Deputy Chairman Berthold Huber, the senior trade unionist who will take over until a new chairman is elected. "The steering committee was and is conscious of its responsibility to Volkswagen and its many thousand staff."

Piech had clashed with VW CEO Martin Winterkorn over the company's cost-cutting and other efforts aimed at addressing VW's slumping sales in the U.S. market.

Volkswagen's biggest shareholder, Porsche SE, indicated support for VW management following Piech's departure.

"We have complete faith in the management of Volkswagen and regret the developments of recent days," company chairman Wolfgang Porsche said in a statement.