Scania chief executive Leif Ostling called the MAN takeover bid a "blitzkrieg" - but noted that the Germans have lost "blitz" wars in the past.
He told analysts during a capital markets day: "We must put an end to this mad bid that is hostile to Sweden and to Scania" and later appeared to portray himself as a Winston Churchill-type figure.Ostling said MAN chief Hakan Samuelsson was "a traitor" and "a person sacked from Scania because of poor social competence". Samuelsson was seen inside
the company as Ostling's number two, until he left to join MAN in 2000.
Ostling's analysis appears to have gone down less than positively in Germany. Just a day later, he issued a brief statement, which also appeared prominently on the company's website: "During Scania's capital markets day I made some comments about Germany that have been interpreted in a way that was not intended. These statements were never meant to be perceived as offensive, but if that is the case, I deeply regret it and apologise."
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