An era at one of Europe’s biggest corporations ended dramatically Saturday when Ferdinand Piech, chairman of Volkswagen AG and grandson of the company’s founder, unexpectedly resigned after losing a rancorous battle to oust Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, Wall Street Journal reported.

Mr. Piech has dominated Volkswagen for decades, steering the company’s rise to become a global automotive group with more than 600,000 employees that is poised to overtake Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. as the world’s biggest auto maker by sales.

In his latest move he tried to oust the company’s embattled CEO for misreading global markets and costing Volkswagen precious momentum in its heated competition with Toyota and GM. But his attack failed, abruptly ending one of corporate Germany’s most storied careers and opening the door for sweeping management change.