Volkswagen's new chief executive is set to take over as head of the supervisory board of Swedish truck maker Scania in a new phase in the plans for a three-way tie-up with German group MAN, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Scania may announce as early as this week that VW CEO Martin Winterkorn will replace Bernd Pischetsrieder as supervisory board chief, the newspaper said, quoting sources close to the matter. Pischetsrieder had also been CEO at VW before he was replaced by Winterkorn.
The appointment would hardly be a surprise: VW is Scania's biggest shareholder with a voting stake of 34 percent and traditionally holds the chair of the Swedish truck maker's supervisory board. VW has long been trying to merge its heavy truck activities with those of Scania and MAN to create a new European leader in the sector. But Scania has rejected MAN's take-over bid as hostile and the three sides have been trying to find an amicable solution. In a bid to bring some movement into the situation, VW recently raised its stake in MAN to 29.9 percent.