Frankfurt, Nov. 18 (AP): Volkswagen’s supervisory board today approved plans to build a production plant in India.

The board also cleared Martin Winterkorn as the company’s next chief executive, a position he will take up on January 1. The company urged an “amicable” tie up between truckmakers MAN AG and Scania AB.

VW also said it plans to spend $31.55 billion between 2007 and 2009 on its automotive operations, which include the Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti brands.

The decision by the board to formally endorse the selection of Winterkorn as CEO was widely expected given that it was its members who had forced his predecessor, Bernd Pischetsrieder, to resign last week, analysts said.

Pischetsreider will continue as CEO until the end of the year focusing on “tasks in the interest of the company”.

Volkswagen said it had not yet made any decision on who would replace Winterkorn at its luxury car unit Audi AG, only that it would determine that at a later time.

There was no immediate word whether Wolfgang Bernhard, who heads the company’s VW brand and was brought in by Pischetsrieder to help oversee the restructuring, was asked to step down or if he would stay on under Winterkorn. Analysts said Bernhard has been viewed as a rival to Winterkorn, who plans to retool the company’s corporate structure.