VW's Piech rebuffs claim he will quit as chairman, report says

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech brushed off a media report saying he would soon quit his post at Europe's largest automaker, Germany's Spiegel reported today.

"Those who are written off live longer," the magazine quoted 76-year-old Piech as saying, adding he said he plans to take part in future Frankfurt auto shows as VW chairman.

Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper had earlier cited sources close to Piech as saying he was likely to step down in the coming months because of poor health and wanted 66-year-old CEO Martin Winterkorn to succeed him.

"The story is nonsense," Spiegel quoted VW works council chief Bernd Osterloh as saying.

Handelsblatt said a succession plan would see VW finance chief Hans Dieter Poetsch, 62, succeed Winterkorn as CEO for a short time after which Audi CEO Rupert Stadler would be promoted to the VW CEO role.

Volkswagen's supervisory board meets at the end of this month and until then the company wants to keep its focus on next week's Frankfurt auto show, the paper added.

Piech has pulled the strings at Volkswagen for 20 years, first as CEO and later chairman. Both a brilliant tactician and engineer in his own right, Piech ruled over the company like no other figure since his grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche, first created the Volkswagen Beetle.

During Piech's time in charge Volkswagen has been transformed into the world's third-largest carmaker, purchasing luxury names such as Bentley and Lamborghini, expanding the company's reach while lowering engineering costs across all brands through a revolutionary new platform strategy.