Volkswagen is to divide its seven car brands into two new groups based around the VW and Audi marques.

A meeting of the VW supervisory board agreed that Lamborghini and Seat would become part of a 'sporty' division led by Audi. VW will be the lead element of a traditional group alongide Bentley, Bugatti and Skoda.

The overhaul will be implemented by Bernd Pischetsrieder, former chairman of BMW, who will succeed Ferdinand Piech on his retirement as VW chairman in April .

The brand realignment was accompanied by a management shake-up. Franz-Josef Paefgen, chairman of Audi, has become chairman of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars, which will be split next year when BMW takes over Rolls-Royce.

From next March, the new Audi division will be run by Martin Winterkorn, currently head of VW group product development. Mr Pischetsrieder will oversee group research and development, as well as the new VW brand division.