BMW chairman sacked

Pischetsrieder has been at the helm of BMW since 1993. Union sources at Rover in England said that deputy chairman Wolfgang Reitzle, who was briefly chairman of the British unit, was also to leave the board.

A number of other German daily newspapers carried similar reports. In December, newspaper Die Welt said 49-year-old Reitzlehad resisted Pischetsrieder8217;s plans to put him in charge of Rover as he did not want to be held responsible for continued lack of success at the unit.

Pischetsrieder and Reitzle had proposed different plans for Rover after its acquisition in 1994, according to the report.The supervisory board had opted for Pischetsrieder8217;s plan to maintain the independence and broad range of the Rover brand over Reitzle8217;s proposals to streamline the group, Die Welt said.

BMW shares were more than one percent weaker at 653 Euros in early electronic trade on Friday. quot;BMW is holding well and probably will continue to do so until we have some more news. The market expects him Pischetsrieder to leave or be told to leave.quot;