Porsche sets up European holding company

STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) -- German sports carmaker Porsche formally created on Tuesday a new European holding company that has drawn the ire of labor leaders at Volkswagen and the IG Metall union.

Workers at VW, Europe's biggest carmaker, tried unsuccessfully to block the formation of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, into which Porsche plans to put its near 31 percent stake in VW.

The European company will also hold the Porsche and Piech family's interests in Porsche and could eventually get stakes in other companies as well.

Wendelin Wiedeking remains Porsche's CEO, while Wolfgang Porsche is chairman of its 12-member supervisory board.

A court refused last month to grant an injunction to keep the new company from being formally entered in the commercial registry, which Porsche said happened on Tuesday.

With 14 times more staff at VW than Porsche, VW labour leaders are trying to get more influence at Porsche Automobil Holding in case Porsche boosts its VW stake to a majority now that a German law capping VW voting rights has been struck down.

The row pits VW labour and IG Metall -- which traditionally has a big say in how VW is run -- against Wiedeking, who has said he will not put up with "sacred cows" when dealing with workers.

It also triggered a rare public split between the heads of the works councils at VW and Porsche.