Volkswagen's annual shareholders meeting has been told that its bottom line is being hit by the euro's strength against the dollar. Chief executive Martin Winterkorn said that for Europe's biggest carmaker to grow more profitably, it has to build more vehicles in the US and it is "examining in detail various options" to do that.
Despite the currency problems, Winterkorn was able to announce a 26% rise in first-quarter profit: "For the company, 2007 was a really a good year. In fact, it was the best year in its history. Never before has Volkswagen sold so many cars or earned so much money."
Winterkorn also reaffirmed to shareholders that he is pleased that Porsche plans to gain majority control at VW.
That was not a sentiment shared by VW workers who turned out to protest against that. They have accused Porsche's CEO Wendelin Wiedeking of trying to lessen their power by joining VW and Porsche together which would mean they would have fewer seats on its supervisory board.
The unions, together with the German state of Lower Saxony, where VW is based, can block any changes in the company's voting rules. Lower Saxony and Porsche have been trying to work out a compromise without success.
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