BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech is seeking to oust Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn ahead of the carmaker's May 5 annual shareholder meeting, German broadcasting network NDR reported on Thursday, without citing the source of the information.
Piech, patriarch of the family that founded VW and a dominant figure at the firm for more than two decades, triggered a leadership crisis at Europe's largest automaker by criticizing CEO Martin Winterkorn in a magazine article earlier this month.
Piech doesn't feel tied by an April 17 decision of senior supervisory board members to back Winterkorn and is now seeking support within the ruling Porsche and Piech families for his bid to replace the CEO, NDR said.
VOLKSWAGEN (VOW.XE)declined to comment.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Jan Schwartz; Editing by Thomas Atkins)
