Volkswagen appoints Porsche chief Mueller as new CEO

Calling the cheating a ‘moral and policy disaster, ‘ the company’s supervisory board chief Berthold Huber said the group is now looking to Mueller, who ‘knows the company and its brands, ‘ to tackle the crisis.

Under his watch, Volkswagen will “develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry”.

Embattled German carmaker Volkswagen (XETRA: VOW3-DE) officially named Porsche boss Matthias Mueller its new CEO on Friday. The Executive Committee thanks Dr. Winterkorn for towering contributions in the past decades and for his willingness to take responsibility in this critical phase for the company. VW faces a potential fine of up to $18 billion in the United States, though analysts say the real figure is likely to be significantly lower if the company cooperates with regulators.

The EPA and the California Air Resources Board uncovered the defeat device software in the Volkswagen cars after independent analysis at West Virginia University raised questions about the cars’ emissions levels.

The EPA announced Friday it had sent letters to “all automakers that we are stepping up our testing activities in response to VW’s alleged violations”. Those events are what is causing massive turmoil with Volkswagen, the disclosure that 11 million diesel vehicles have software embedded in them that allow them to beat emissions certification tests.

Attorney generals in at least 27 USA states and Washington DC announced they would jointly investigate VW’s representations to consumers and would send subpoenas to the company, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. Occasionally, our and your patience will be tested, but… carefulness is even more important than speed.

After falling on his sword for Volkswagen AG’s rigging US diesel emissions tests, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, 68, stepped down today.

Muller says he will work to restore trust in Volkswagen.

“Volkswagen has committed a bait and switch”, said Gretchen Cappio, a Partner at Keller Rohrback in Seattle who is representing Bahr and about three dozen other Volkswagen customers across the country.

Mueller, who studied information technology and joined the Audi division as a toolmaking apprentice in the early 1970s, is the first non-engineer to run VW since 1992, when Carl Hahn retired from the post. He has been Porsche chief executive since 2010 and a member of parent Volkswagen’s management board since March.

That includes a reorganisation of the North America business under Winfried Vahland, until now chairman of the board of directors at Czech-based brand Skoda.

“I have always been driven by my desire to serve this company, especially our customers and employees”.