Witter, who is 60 years old, declined to extend his contract by five years for personal reasons and is instead opting for a nine-month extension this autumn, the magazine added.

Witter's contract is due to expire in October this year but he has agreed to stay on until June 2021, to give the multi-brand car and truck maker more time to find a successor, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Volkswagen declined to comment.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt and Thomas Seythal in Berlin; editing by Riham Alkousaa and Jan Harvey)