FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group’s top committee on Tuesday avoided discussing a potential contract extension for CEO Herbert Diess, reports said.
A supervisory board panel ended a three-hour meeting without a concrete proposal for defusing internal tensions over Diess’s desire for a contract extension and more dramatic changes at the automaker.
More talks are required ahead of a meeting of the full supervisory board next week, according to people familiar with the outcome of Tuesday’s gathering.
Discussions about Diess, 62, and selections for top management posts will continue in the coming days, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private.
Diess had demanded a vote of confidence in his reform efforts by asking for an early contract extension even though labor leaders at the company opposed the move.
VW declined to comment.
“The executive committee will not be pressured into a decision, there is no rush,” one of the people familiar with the matter said, commenting on the potential contract extension.
The committee is headed by Volkswagen’s chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch. It includes Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piech, members of the automaker’s owning families who control a majority voting stake, as well as VW labor boss Bernd Osterloh.
Ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, Diess outlined his vision for reforming VW, saying he had not succeeded in overhauling its German operations where labor chiefs can block significant decisions.
