FRANKFURT, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The chief executive of German auto components maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG is leaving his job with immediate effect, the company said on Thursday.
Stefan Sommer goes after five years in the job and will be replaced on an interim basis by finance director Konstantin Sauer while the company searches for a replacement, supervisory board chief Franz-Josef Paefgen said in a statement.
Paefgen has himself only just been promoted to his post at the world's fourth-largest car parts maker, in which the city of Friedrichshafen owns a controlling stake through a foundation and whose mayor sits on the supervisory board.
Management and city hall have been at loggerheads over a proposed acquisition in the United States following the takeover of automated driving specialist TRW in 2015 for a reported $12 billion that was steered by Sommer. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Maria Sheahan)