German auto maker Volkswagen plans more management changes in the wake of the announced departure of chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, local news paper reported Thursday.

The executive in charge of the VW brand, Wolfgang Bernhard, would hand his resignation at Friday's board meeting, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Thursday.

Quoting "informed sources", the report said decision would be announced late Thursday to a restricted committee of six members of the supervisory board, meeting to prepare for the board meeting on Friday.

Bernhard was hired by Volkswagen in 2005 with a reputation of a cost-cutter earned at his former employer DaimlerChrysler. His resignation could be related to the departure of Pischetsrieder, who had a contract until April 2012 but is about leave at the end of the year.

Pischetsrieder is to be replaced by the head of VW subsidiary Audi, Martin Winterkorn, who is ambitious to strengthen the role of management. The report said Bernhard might lose much of his influence under Winterkorn.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times Deutschland said there were strains between Winterkorn and Bernhard. The report quoted auto industry sources as saying Bernhard might work for one of the US auto groups.

On Wednesday, luxury German sports car-maker Porsche AG announced that it planned to raise its stake in VW from 27.4 percent to 29.9, just short of the 30-percent mark that could allow the company to launch a takeover bid, which added to the concerns over the prospect of VW, Europe's biggest carmaker.

Source: Xinhua