VW denies chairman wants to oust Porsche CEO

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) denied on Sunday that the chairman of its supervisory board, Ferdinand Piech, wanted to oust Wendelin Wiedeking as chief executive of sports car maker Porsche (PSHG_p.DE), VW's biggest shareholder.

Piech is a grandson of Porsche's founder, whose descendants still control the car company. Porsche holds about 31 percent of voting rights at Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker.

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Piech -- a dominant figure in the German auto industry for decades -- believes that Wiedeking has become too powerful and autonomous.

Der Spiegel said that Piech still clung to the ambition of hiring Wolfgang Reitzle, who is currently chief executive of German industrial gases producer Linde (LING.DE) but formerly held senior positions at BMW and Ford.

"The report about a supposed contact between Dr Piech and Mr. Reitzle with regard to the replacement of Dr Wiedeking is nonsense and lacks any foundation," a Volkswagen spokesman said.

"Dr Piech has had no contact with Mr. Reitzle for years, and has none currently."

Arguments about joint workers' representation have soured relations between Volkswagen and Porsche recently, but the spokesman said Piech was confident this could be resolved.

"Dr Piech is of the firm conviction that the disputed points between the works councils of Volkswagen and Porsche can be swiftly settled without the intervention of the Piech/Porsche family," the spokesman added.

(Reporting by David Milliken and Jan Schwartz; Editing by Paul Bolding)