Porsche exec fails to live up to Wiedeking's brass

* Brand chief Michael Macht seen lacking vision, strategy

* Manufacturing expert will return to production - sources

* VW's Heizmann would be freed up to focus on truck alliance

* Reshuffle not seeing impacting Porsche shares

By Christiaan Hetzner

FRANKFURT, July 6 (Reuters) - Less than a year after taking over as brand chief of sports carmaker Porsche AG (PSHG_p.DE), Michael Macht will fall victim to a reshuffle after failing to fill the big shoes of precedessor Wendelin Wiedeking.

Several sources at German carmakers Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and Porsche said the soft-spoken engineer was leaving his post, having proven himself too unimaginative to improve the brand's profile and glamour.

That stands in contrast to his former boss Wiedeking, who for years was the best-paid and most successful manager in Germany until he all but bankrupted Porsche.

Macht, 49, will return to specialising in production processes, albeit in a new position to be announced on Tuesday. It is widely expected to include responsibility for the Volkswagen group's entire manufacturing network.

"Too few guidelines, too few targets and clear directions," one source at Porsche said, summing up Macht's shortcomings as a strategic thinker running an entire company.

These proved not to be so problematic in his previous role running Porsche's factories, where vision was less in demand.

"In production, you have clearly defined, self-contained loops based on a set of parameters given to you. It is not your responsibility to make the big decisions, the political decisions," the source said.

Volkswagen and Porsche declined comment.

Macht effectively became one of 10 brand chiefs after Wiedeking was sacked last year for nearly ruining Porsche when he accumulated billions in debt trying to take over Volkswagen.

Porsche is now set to merge next year with VW, in which it holds just over half the votes.

"Macht may be an excellent production guy, but being chief of production is a relatively dry position. If you're talking about Porsche, exactly a brand like that needs nothing less than an absolute car fanatic to personify it," a VW source said. A specialist in "lean manufacturing" -- eliminating waste and slashing inventories to conserve cash -- Macht oversaw Porsche's factories and ran a captive consulting firm that implemented similar just-in-time production methods at companies like Lufthansa (LHAG.DE).

He was considered at the time to be the best candidate to replace Wiedeking because he was a team player from Porsche's senior management who could subordinate himself within the greater heiarchy of VW's 10-brand automotive empire.

LITIGATION RISKS

Now Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn will replace him with VW product strategy chief Matthias Mueller.

"A year ago, it would have been a slap in the face for the entire Porsche workforce had we installed an external candidate, the absolutely wrong signal, but now managers from both sides meet each other regularly and even the (Porsche) labour leader (Uwe Hueck) has seen that everything isn't as bad under VW as he always thought," one of the two VW sources said.

Macht would take the reins from production boss Jochem Heizmann, who is set to manage a testy alliance between MAN (MANG.DE) and Scania (SCVb.ST), two truckmakers that count VW as their largest shareholder.

"Now that nearly all three greenfield plants are up and running in Russia, India and -- in a few months -- the United States, Heizmann is nearly finished with his main projects," said another Volkswagen source.

"Taking responsibility for the trucks business, one in which our chairman (Ferdinand Piech) has taken a personal interest, is a high-profile and tricky assignment," the person added.

Analysts were unimpressed for now by the reshuffle.

"The marching route is relatively clear for Porsche. It might make it easier with a Winterkorn lieutenant at the helm, but it won't lead to any estimate revisions so it's not relevant for the share price," one sell-side analyst in Germany said.

"The two drivers of the stock are how far and how fast Porsche can reduce debt as well as the litigation risks."

(Additional reporting by Jan Schwarz in Hamburg; Editing by Michael Shields)