Ferdinand Piech, longtime Volkswagen patriarch, dies at 82

German auto industry powerbroker Ferdinand Piech, the longtime patriarch of Volkswagen AG and the engineer of its takeover of Porsche, has died at age 82.

German news agency dpa confirmed reports Monday from Bild and Handelsblatt newspapers that Piech died Sunday. VW didn’t immediately comment and a cause of death wasn’t immediately available.

The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, Piech was an auto industry mainstay for more than four decades.

He was credited with turning around Volkswagen in the 1990s, leading it back to profit during a nine-year stint as chief executive. He then became the company’s supervisory board chief.

He stepped down as board chairman in 2015 after losing a power struggle with then-CEO Martin Winterkorn a few months before a scandal over diesel emissions-rigging shook the company and prompted Winterkorn’s resignation.