His efforts are encumbered by Volkswagen’s governance system, which grants labor representatives half the seats on the board. Insiders say Mr. Diess is aiming to cut Volkswagen brand costs by nearly €4 billion ($4.4 billion) over the next three years, but he needs Mr. Osterloh’s backing to achieve that. Without that, Mr. Osterloh is threatening to block approval of the company’s five-year investment plan at the regular supervisory board meeting on Nov. 18. The extraordinary supervisory board meeting on Friday was called to ensure decisions can be taken at the meeting later this month, a person close to the supervisory board said. Volkswagen wants its continuing talks to cut costs by around €8 billion over the next three years, about half coming from the Volkswagen brand, two people familiar with the situation said.

Source: Wall Street Journal November 03, 2016 14:05 UTC