FRANKFURT (AFP) -- The workers' council at Volkswagen, the biggest European carmaker, has filed a legal challenge to the number of seats held by VW workers on the supervisory board of a new holding company set up by Porsche, the labor union IG Metall said yesterday.

The workers' council will try to convince judges that VW workers should have been included in talks on Porsche's new European Company statute ""because at the time, VW was already a component of Porsche,"" a union spokesman told AFP.
A complaint was filed with a court in southern Stuttgart, he added.
Porsche told AFP, ""We regret that the Volkswagen works committee has chosen this path. We are not surprised and we consider the complaint with confidence.""
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which re-incorporated itself under the European statue on November 13, owns a 31 percent stake in VW.
The maker of the 911 sports car had negotiated an agreement with its own personnel under which VW and Porsche workers would each have three seats on the new holding company's supervisory board.
But VW workers outnumber those at Porsche by 29 to one, and the workers' council, backed by IG Metall, had sought an injunction against the new Porsche statute's creation, which was rejected.
Now that the new company has been established, the VW council is making a fresh challenge.
Porsche is expected to raise its VW stake to more than 50 percent, and although chief executive Wendelin Weideking said last week that it was in no hurry to do so, the company is tipped to make its move in the coming months.