Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of the creator of the VW Beetle and the patriarch of the German automaker for more than two decades, is losing his grip on Volkswagen AG two years before his last term as chairman ends.

Piech, 77, has found himself increasingly isolated after his hostile comments toward Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn were quickly blunted by other power players at the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company. The rebuttal may mark the beginning of the end of an era at Europe's biggest carmaker.

Volkswagen's powerful works council, the state of Lower Saxony and even Piech's cousin Wolfgang Porsche rallied to Winterkorn's side after Piech escalated the power struggle by telling Der Spiegel in an interview published on Friday that he was keeping himself "at a distance" from Winterkorn.