VW ownership not behind share price trough

Family line: Wolfgang Porsche makes a point during media day at the IAA in Munich. The Porsche chairman sees his nephew Ferdinand Oliver Porsche as a natural future successor were he to step down. — Bloomberg

MUNICH: Volkswagen’s languishing share price, which is near a three-and-a-half-year low, is not the result of ownership control by the Porsche and Piech families, one of its most powerful members says.

Wolfgang Porsche, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who founded the sportscar manufacturer that still bears his name, called on Europe’s top carmaker to cut costs and become more efficient.