Piech's exit sets scene for shake-up at VW

Ferdinand Piech's sudden resignation as chairman of Volkswagen AG revealed a rift within the billionaire Porsche-Piech clan that controls the carmaker, threatening to complicate the search for a successor.

Wolfgang Porsche, 71, chairman of the family's holding company, opposed his 78-year-old cousin's effort to oust Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn. Both Wolfgang Porsche and Winterkorn are now in line to potentially replace Piech.

The chairman role is being filled temporarily by IG Metall union official Berthold Huber. With divisions in the Porsche-Piech clan, whose 50.7 percent holding of VW common stock is valued at about 13.7 billion euros ($14.9 billion), finding a candidate that's acceptable to labor leaders, its home state and shareholder Lower Saxony as well as factions within the family may be a struggle. And Piech still has sway.