Matthias Mueller named Volkswagen boss

“As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions“.

The supervisory board is also due to announce a successor as chief executive.

Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn announced his resignation on Wednesday.

Firstly, who is the new CEO of the Volkswagen Group?

Winterkorn disclosed Wednesday that he had asked the board to terminate his employment, after Volkswagen diesel vehicles were found to circumvent US emissions standards.

BERLIN (AP) – Just one week ago Volkswagen was a company oozing confidence, the world’s best-selling automaker with a global brand that appealed to vehicle buyers seeking trustworthy German engineering at an affordable price.

Incoming Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller is pledging to do everything to win back the trust of the public in the wake of the emissions scandal that erupted in the U.S. “All participants in these proceedings that has resulted in unmeasurable harm for Volkswagen, will be subject to the full consequences”, Volkswagen’s Executive Committee said in a summary statement Thursday. The US Environmental Protection Agency has said Volkswagen could face penalties of up to $18 billion.

A women at the reception desk of a Volkswagen dealership in Frankfurt, who declined to give her name, said she had received many queries from diesel auto drivers.

He said he would tighten up procedures at the company: “At no point was the safety of our customers in danger”. In Europe, where rules emphasize fuel economy, diesel vehicles are common but until recently they struggled to meet US emissions limits on NOx.

The company’s stock price has plummeted by a third over the past week, wiping billions off its market value.

Shares in the German company have sunk by as much as 40 percent since USA regulators said on Friday it had admitted to rigging emissions tests on hundreds of thousands of diesel cars.

The company says Michael Horn will remain as president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, but its U.S, Canada and Mexico markets will be “combined and significantly strengthened” to form a new “North America region”.

When he resigned, Winterkorn denied he knew of any wrongdoing but said the company needed a fresh start. Industry analysts say Winterkorn, an engineer by training, would have had to have known about such a far-reaching scheme.

The interim chairman of the supervisor board of Volkswagen AG, Berthold Huber, in a statement called Mueller “a person of great strategic, entrepreneurial and social competence”. The internal Group investigations are continuing at a high tempo. Whoever is responsible could face criminal charges in Germany.

The EPA accused Volkswagen of installing the “defeat device” in 482,000 cars sold in the United States. These included the Audi A3, VW Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat models built with Type EA 189 diesel engines in the last seven years.

VW later acknowledged that similar software exists in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide, but hasn’t given details of the models and their whereabouts.

Though Winterkorn claimed he was unaware of the emissions-cheating devices placed in VW, Audi, (and possibly Porsche) TDI engines, and the VW Group affirmed his innocence, the Group’s leader chose to abdicate his authority. According to a report Saturday by German daily Handelsblatt, VW is planning to offer a free fix for the 11 million affected vehicles and customers will be contacted in the coming weeks.

The European Union plans to introduce new emissions tests next year involving on-road monitoring.

Scott Mayerowitz contributed from New York.