In—And Out—Of The Driver's Seat

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The hottest seats in European business these days are in the auto industry. Last week, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Fiat all announced that they're trading in their chief executives. That leaves just highly profitable Porsche as the only significant European auto firm not to have switched bosses in the past 18 months. The turnover reflects upheaval in the industry worldwide as firms not only jostle to take advantage of new markets in Asia and elsewhere, but also struggle with unrelenting cost pressures at home.

The big surprise came at VW. Bernd Pischetsrieder had just signed a new contract in May and was in the middle of a huge cost-cutting program. He resigned after falling out with Ferdinand Piëch, who is both chairman of VW and a key shareholder. Pischetsrieder, 58, was replaced by the head of Audi, Martin Winterkorn, 59, a Piëch loyalist. VW's financial prospects have brightened in recent months, and investors and industry officials fretted that Pischetrieder's exit could jeopardize the restructuring. "We see it as negative for VW," reckoned Credit Suisse analyst Harald Hendrikse.

At France's Peugeot Citroën, Europe's second largest carmaker, Christian Streiff was appointed to succeed Jean-Martin Folz, 59, after he failed to reverse slumping sales. Streiff, 52, who has a reputation as a tough cost cutter, recently resigned as head of Airbus after just three months in the job. In Italy, meanwhile, Sergio Marchionne, 54, announced that after restoring Fiat's car division to profitability over the past two years, he'll be moving up next year to run the whole Fiat group.

A replacement hasn't been announced, but whoever does get the job would be well advised not to expect lifetime tenure.