A German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said that the German industrial group said at the weekend it would sack him after he misjudged demand development in the group's main markets. Last week was the last straw when Siemens scrapped its 2014 profit margin targets.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Loescher was not going quietkt and said he was only willing to resign if Chairman Gerhard Cromme, who hired him six years ago, also quit. Loescher hoped to pull together the necessary two-thirds majority to prevent being fired, though boardroom sources told the paper he had no hope of succeeding.