保时捷CEO被解雇了

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Applause from the workers and an embrace from his successor, Wendelin Wiedeking led Porsche for more than 16 years and was credited with making it one of the most profitable carmakers in the world. But in the end, he lost billions in a failed bid to take over Volkswagen.

Now as Wiedeking spoke to his former workers one last time, Bernd Messner who's been here for 25 years listened with fear.

"All we can do is wait," he says, "We don't know what cuts there might be in the future."

The future could now see Porsche as one of Volkswagen's many auto brands. Aside from Wiedeking's departure, the sports carmaker also announced it is seeking more than seven billion dollars in fresh capital and an investment from the emirate Qatar, to pave the way for a possible merger with VW. Volkswagen itself announced it wants to take over Porsche's car making business in two stages.

The new man at the helm of Porsche is Michael Macht, the former head of production. And what the workers here wanted to hear from their new boss was this: Porsche will remain Porsche no matter who holds the shares.

“Even in the driving rain, almost all Porsche employees came here today to hear their leadership speak. The message is this: Even if Porsche and Volkswagen merge, the proud German's sports carmaker wants to be as independent as possible.”

While some hail possible synergies between Porsche and VW, other analysts believe the Porsche brand might suffer.

"I don't think an association with Volkswagen will be good," this expert says, "every time Porsche has developed cars with VW, Porsche's image was tarnished."

But as Wolfgang Porsche, the head of the company supervisory board and an heir to Porsche's founder said goodbye to his former top manager, his demeanor was stern. For this small sports carmaker, there might be no turning back.

Fred Pleitgen, cnn, Stuttgart, Germany.

Vocabulary:

1.       be credited with：把...归功于,认为...(有某种成就)

2.       fresh capital：筹集的初始资本

3.       pave the way for：(为…)铺平道路，(为…)作准备

4.       at the helm of：领导，掌管

5.       driving rain：倾盆大雨