The newspaper based its calculation on the assumption that Pischetsrieder would continue to be paid his usual annual salary of about 3.5 million marks (1.79 million euros) until the date his contract was due to expire in may 2003. This was normal procedure for companies paying off senior executives, on condition that the usual dismissal rules were followed, the newspaper argued.

Pischetsrieder might also see his corporate pension topped up substantially to ease the pain of departure, it said. The disgraced chairman could also continue to receive remuneration for supervisory board positions and other activities, it said.

BMW's supervisory board sacked Pischetsrieder after a gruelling seven-hour meeting onFriday and installed the little known Joachim Milberg in his place. The board did not give the reason for Pischestrieder's dismissal, but press reports have suggested that he was being blamed for problems at the loss-making British unit Rover, which BMW acquired in 1994.