Volkswagen appoints head of Porsche brand Matthias Mueller as new CEO

Michael Horn, however, will remain chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America.

Mueller himself vowed that his “most pressing task will be to restore confidence in the Volkswagen Group – through an unsparing investigation and maximum transparency, but also by drawing the right lessons from the current situation”.

VW and Audi drivers are furious too.

Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller attends a press conference on Friday announcing his appointment. Seat chairman Jurgen Stackmann becomes VW’s sales and marketing boss, with Audi’s sales and marketing chief Luca de Meo moving to replace him. He kept his job after a rousing show of support from VW’s U.S. Dealer Council. Lamborghini, however, won’t form part of this group utilising “the sports vehicle and mid-engined toolkit’, instead continuing to share a stable with Ducati”.

If there is any small comfort that Volkswagen could draw, it would be that its two main joint ventures in China confirmed that their products were not involved in the rigging scandal.

On Thursday (Sept. 24), German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt announced that Volkswagen had also cheated in tests in Europe, listing the number of affected vehicles in Germany at 2.8 million on Friday.

The EPA said it would now conduct additional emissions tests to diesel cars.

California regulators warned auto makers Friday against following Volkswagen Group’s example, warning it will use enhanced screening tests to ferret out software switches and other devices designed to circumvent emissions standards.

“We need a climate where problems aren’t hidden”, Bernd Osterloh, VW’s top labour leader said at a press conference in Wolfsburg, Germany. Additionally, the board will relinquish its production role within the conglomerate with the responsibility of production shifting to the individual brands. “We’re confident that they will be fully compliant with all European Union and USA emissions regulations”. My money is on Herbert Diess.

Even as Winterkorn issued his resignation, he attempted to exonerate himself from any wrongdoing. His fingers are clean.

“I am shocked by the events of the past few days”, he said.

In Germany, speculation has centered on possible candidates from within the 12-brand Volkswagen group. “Volkswagen needs a fresh start – also in terms of…” “Let me be very clear: the Commission does not itself do the policing”. Winterkorn stepped down this week after the Environmental Protection Agency slapped the German company with a notice of violation for installing software in some 11 million cars worldwide to bypass emissions testing.

The software enables the vehicles to appear compliant to emissions standards set by the Clean Air Act when, in fact, some engines put out as much as 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide.

A DfT spokesman said the Government has been “at the forefront of action at a European level” to introduce updated emissions testing.