A power struggle between a dominant chairman and a hardworking CEO ends up with the resignation of the chairman and support of the CEO.

This should have been the end of the issue, but in VW it was not.

As the chairman and his clan own 51 percent of the company shares, he blocks the promotion of the CEO to the rank of chairman to succeed him after his long service to the company.

Last week’s headline in some German magazines highlighted the latest turn of the VW saga under the headline “Piech gets his way by blocking Winterkorn as his successor.”

Instead of Winterkorn, the VW board has elected the company’s CFO Dieter Poetsch as the new chairman.

Corporate wrangling is not new to the auto industry and disputes occur almost on a daily basis.

This happens between managers, designers, directors and engineers. However, it seems that the dispute between Piech and Winterkorn is of the bitter and personal type.

Piech worked behind the scenes in order to deprive Winterkorn of his final victory succeeding him as chairman.

Winterkorn was given two more years as CEO but one of his operational jobs was stripped off him which is being the head of the VW brand – that job was given to former BMW executive Herbert Diess.

Some industry observers claim that Winterkorn has become a “lame duck” with junior managers jockeying for power after his time is over instead of focusing on executing Winterkorn’s plans.

They also add that the chosen chairman, Poetsch, was selected after a long haggling time as if he was not first choice for the job.

Is this the ideal management set up for a major car company?

In management lexicon, a similar dispute should have ended with either one winner keeping all privileges intact, or two losers and a fresh management sheet.

But when issues of ownership interfere with management, the result is a muddle of big egos fighting on at the expense of company’s interests.

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Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.

Email: [email protected]