Oliver Blume is to step down as the CEO of German sports carmaker Porsche, the firm said on Friday.

He also serves in the same role in Volkswagen Group, Porsche's parent company, a dual position that has attracted significant criticism amid years of struggles for the German car industry.

Blume will remain at the helm of Volkswagen, Porsche's supervisory board said in a statement.

He has been CEO of Porsche since 2015 and took over at Volkswagen in 2022 after the resignation of Herbert Diess.

Porsche said that Blume's likely replacement is Michael Leiters, who had previously served as the CEO of UK-based sports car company McLaren.

What was the criticism of Blume's dual position at both Porsche and Volkswagen?

Shareholders had voiced considerable criticism of Blume filling the role of CEO in both Porsche and its parent company, arguing that this represented an overly challenging workload as well as a potential source of conflicts of interest.

Hendrik Schmidt of the DWS asset management company critically described Blume's role as that of a "part-time CEO."

Blume had previously argued that the fact that he served as the CEO of both firms was actually advantageous.

Blume's run as CEO at Porsche

Blume was brought in to lead Volkswagen after a successful run at Porsche.

He took over Porsche in 2015, which was already the most successful year to date for the firm at the time. Under his leadership, Porsche more than doubled its after-tax profit.

In September 2022, Porsche raised nearly €9.4 billion ($11 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market.

Germany's auto industry has been struggling in recent years, with Chinese rivals edging it out in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Volkswagen has been experiencing a severe sales and cost crisis, which the firm's management says requires plant closures and layoffs.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn