POAHY Porsche Automobile Holding SE (PK)

By William Boston 

BERLIN-- Volkswagen AG's former chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, is stepping down as head of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the holding company owned by the Porsche and Piech families that control a majority of the German auto group's voting stock said Saturday.

The move comes less than a month after Mr. Winterkorn quit as CEO of Volkswagen, after the company admitted it manipulated emissions tests of some diesel-powered cars and light trucks in the U.S. and Europe. The company is under investigation on suspicion of fraud on both sides of the Atlantic and is preparing to launch a massive recall of up to 11 million vehicles.

The holding company, belonging to the Porsche and Pietch families, owns around 52% of Volkswagen's voting stock and is the car maker's largest shareholder. Porsche SE has no direct management control over Volkswagen.

Hans Dieter Pötsch, Porsche SE's finance chief and the chairman of Volkswagen's supervisory board, will succeed Mr. Winterkorn as CEO on Nov. 1.

Volkswagen's admission of cheating on emissions tests has put the company under intense pressure and triggered wider questions about the auto industry, which is central to Germany's economy.

German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has called for tougher testing and regulations to ensure that diesel vehicles run clean.

Volkswagen last week suspended a fourth senior engineer, a person familiar with the situation said on Thursday, as the company's new chief executive, Matthias Müller, called for a more decentralized business organization.

Porsche Automobil Holding was created in 2007 when car maker Porsche AG bought Volkswagen shares in a bid to take over the larger car maker. A bitter battle ensued between cousins Wolfgang Porsche and former Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche who invented the original Volkswagen, for control. In the end, Volkswagen acquired Porsche and by 2012 Porsche SE became Volkswagen's anchor shareholder.

In the wake of the takeover battle, the Porsche family traded their shares in the sports car maker for a 31.5% stake in Volkswagen, representing 50.7% of VW's voting rights. The Porsche family created Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which manages the VW stake and the holding's cash stockpile.

Last month, Porsche SE bought a further 1.5% of Volkswagen from Suzuki Motor Corp.

Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2015 13:39 ET (17:39 GMT)

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