Good, in depth article. Gotta wonder, though, if somehow Der Spiegel has an ax to grind. *NM*

It all began with six cruel little words. Six words that Ferdinand Piëch, the chairman of the Volkswagen Group, one of Germany's largest and best-known companies, had told in the hopes of undermining one of his most high-profile colleagues, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Piëch had skewered many men with his words over the course of his career -- but in this case, he got far more than he had bargained for. He set off a battle that pitted family member against family member, tore apart the leadership of the world's second largest automobile manufacturer, and, in the process, set the German automobile industry into turmoil. It became the climax of a decades-long family drama -- power struggles over inheritances, women and long-festering wounds.

Together with Martin Winterkorn, Piëch had transformed VW into a global conglomerate with 600,000 employees and 12 brands, including Audi, Porsche, Seat, Škoda and Lamborghini. The two were tough as iron and fastidious, like two alpha bulls. But when it was all over, at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, Ferdinand Piëch was no longer on Volkswagen's board of directors.

[www.spiegel.de]