MAN has issued a statement backing Hakan Samuelsson.

The move comes in the light of reports suggesting that VW was gearing up to get rid of the Swedish CEO. "Coverage in today's press prompted the standing committee of the MAN supervisory board to reinforce their unanimous support for the position of Mr. Hakan Samuelsson as CEO of MAN AG and express their complete trust in him," MAN said in a one-sentence statement.

Such fulsome support tends to set the antennae twitching a bit. Looks like a burial before nightfall to us.