Volkswagen must act now, controlling families say, as profit falls

BERLIN, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Volkswagen must act now to secure competitiveness, the German auto group’s controlling families said on Thursday, in their clearest message yet to management amid a push to ramp up cost cuts and fend off Chinese rivals.

“The Volkswagen Group is at a historic crossroads. For the sake of the company and its sustainable competitiveness, everyone must now step up and take responsibility,” said Hans Dieter Poetsch, board chairman of Porsche SE, the investment vehicle of the Porsche/Piech auto dynasty and Volkswagen’s top shareholder.

“The longer decisions are delayed, the bigger the problems will become,” Poetsch added.

Porsche SE finance chief Johannes Lattwein called on the group to reduce excess capacity, significantly lower costs and strengthen decision-making.

Porsche SE reported a 14.5% drop in its adjusted half-year earnings after tax to €949 million ($1.1 billion) on Friday.

It owns 31.9% in Volkswagen and 12.5% in its sports car subsidiary Porsche .

($1 = 0.8678 euros)

(Reporting by Rachel More, Simon Ferdinand Eibach and Emanuele Berro, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Thomas Seythal)