Stuttgart, July 23 (DPA) The board of the giant German carmaker Volkswagen agreed Thursday to to forge a new global automotive powerhouse by mounting a two-step 8-billion-euro, ($11.4 billion) takeover of the legendary sports vehicle group Porsche.

Announcing the agreement, Volkswagen (VW) chief Martin Winterkorn said the way was now free for the creation of an integrated VW-Porsche group with the sports carmaker to remain an independent brand.

The new combined VW-Porsche group would be 'a major force' in the world car business.

Meeting in Stuttgart, the VW supervisory board decision turns the tables on Porsche, which had been forced to abandon an audacious bid to acquire VW after wracking up about 10 billion euros in debt in a David-and-Goliath battle to buy Europe's biggest carmaker.

The prospect of Volkswagen now seizing control of Porsche came in the wake of the luxury sportscar maker's announcement Thursday that its chief, Wendelin Wiedeking was stepping down after opposing VW's takeover ambitions for Porsche.

The Volkswagen decision to back the takeover plan represents a major victory for its supervisory board chairman Ferdinand Piech, after the protracted merger battle triggered a power struggle among the two families controlling Porsche and VW.

Under the VW takeover plan, the Wolfsburg-based motor vehicle group is expected to pick up an initial 49.9-percent stake in Porsche and then buy the rest at a later date at a total cost of about 8 billion euros.

The ownership of the new merged VW-Porsche group would be split between a more-than-50-percent stake held by the current controlling clans - the Porsche and Piech families.