BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said he may stay at the helm of Europe's biggest car maker beyond the term of his current contract to launch the new Golf model, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech said in an interview last November that Winterkorn could stay for another five to seven years and that he had asked his chief executive to take charge of the next Golf.
"I want to play a decisive role in shaping the next generation of the Golf" hatchback, Winterkorn told the magazine in an interview published on Saturday. The next makeover of VW's best-selling model may come to market around 2018.
Winterkorn's second term as CEO of VW runs out in December 2016. The 65-year-old has been at the helm of the Wolfsburg-based auto manufacturer since January 2007.
Winterkorn also told Der Spiegel that VW currently has over 120,000 orders for the seventh-generation Golf which went on sale last year. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Toby Chopra)