FILE PHOTO - Head of Ford Germany Bernhard Mattes (R) gestures as German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes an opening tour of the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany September 17, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The former chief of Ford-Werke GmbH, Bernhard Mattes, is the favorite to head Germany’s VDA auto industry lobby when the current chief’s contract expires next year, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Mattes, currently president of AmCham Germany, is regarded highly because he is viewed as independent of the big three German automakers - Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE, BMW BMWG.DE, and Daimler DAIGn.DE, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported.

VDA’s current president Matthias Wissmann, 68, has said he would leave the association when his contract expires in early summer 2018, a spokesman confirmed. He wouldn’t comment on a possible successor.

AmCham Germany wasn’t immediately available for comment when contacted by phone and email after business hours.