FRANKFURT, Germany, Rajab 6, 1436, Apr 25, 2015, SPA -- The chairman of the board of Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest automaker, has stepped down after clashing with other board members over his criticism of the company's top management, dpa reported. Volkswagen said in a statement Saturday that Ferdinand Piech was resigning with immediate effect. Piech had said in an interview that he was distancing himself from CEO Martin Winterkorn. That stance was rejected by other members of the board who said that he had not consulted with them. The Volkswagen AG statement said that the board's steering committee had met and decided that "the necessary mutual trust necessary for successful cooperation does not exist." The statement said that deputy board chairman Berthold Huber would serve as interim chairman. -- SPA 20:46 LOCAL TIME 17:46 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w