Stuttgart  - Wendelin Wiedeking, the chief executive of German carmaker Porsche AG, resigned Thursday after losing a power struggle with Volkswagen AG, which is set to take over Porsche.

Porsche's supervisory board agreed on Wiedeking's departure, making him the first high-calibre victim of the drawn-out takeover battle between Porsche and Volkswagen.

Early Thursday, the Porsche board approved a plan to raise 5 billion euros (7.1 billion dollars) in capital that could clear the way for a takeover of the highly indebted sports car maker by Volkswagen.

The board also gave the green light to efforts aimed at securing a deal worth up to 5 billion euros with the Gulf state of Qatar to buy a 10- to 25-per-cent stake in Porsche.

In planning to take over Porsche step-by-step, Volkswagen turned the tables on Porsche, which has been forced to abandon a push to acquire VW.

This came after Porsche wracked up debt of about 10 billion euros in gaining a majority 51-per-cent stake in VW, Europe's biggest carmaker.

Wiedeking, 56, who had been at Porsche's steering wheel since 1993, will be succeeded by chief production executive Michael Macht.

Porsche's financial chief Holger Haerter is to leave the company as well.

Both Wiedeking and Haerter are stepping down immediately.

With their resignations, both managers wanted to "make an important contribution to pacify the situation," Porsche said in an initial statement. (dpa)