Volkswagen emission scandal also affects light commercial vehicles: German gov’t

Volkswagen’s board on Friday named Matthias Mueller, the head of the group’s Porsche unit, to be the new CEO and to lead the world’s top-selling automaker past a growing emissions-rigging scandal.

FILE – In this June 25, 2012 file photo Porsche CEO Matthias…

He did not elaborate, and a statement from Volkswagen did not specify who the employees were, at what level or where they worked.

BERLIN (AP) – German automaker Porsche SE says it is buying 1.5 percent stake of ordinary shares in Volkswagen AG from Suzuki.

“To make matters worse, the scandal comes at a time when Volkswagen’s sales are already falling in China”.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified auto manufacturers in a letter that they could require additional tests for “any vehicle” to determine whether it meets emission standards under normal road conditions, not just at controlled testing facilities.

“I assume this responsibility with confidence and will do everything personally to regain the trust of our customers, our employers and partners and investors and the whole public”. The crisis wiped about €20 billion off VW’s market value this week, and the company estimates irregularities on diesel-emission readings extend to 11 million vehicles around the world.

John Zeng, managing director of consulting firm LMC Automotive in Shanghai, echoed Zhang’s view, saying that the scandal will strike “a major blow” to the German brand’s reputation in the Chinese market.

HOW to steer Volkswagen out of its deepening crisis? The company has allocated approximately $7 billion to cover the cost of servicing those diesel cars. Industry analysts say Winterkorn, an engineer by training, would have had to have known about such a far-reaching scheme.

Supervisory board chief Berthold Huber said Müller would take over with immediate effect.

Li, who lives in Beijing, said: “It is a shame for Volkswagen”. Whoever is responsible could face criminal charges in Germany.

“Many people will want to know which matters more to our Government – the polluters’ profits or the health of their citizens”. According to the lawsuit, Kurtz drives a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI, one of the “clean-diesel” models affected.

The task facing Mueller is enormous, with the latest issue of influential German weekly Der Spiegel showing pall-bearers carrying a Volkswagen vehicle decked out as a coffin under the headline “The Suicide”. Mueller, 62, succeeds Martin Winterkorn, who quit on Wednesday.

“The safety of our vehicles has never been compromised, the safety of our customers”.

That Volkswagen rigged the emission tests on its diesel cars has been covered in detail by the BBC and the press. “Occasionally, our and your patience will be tested, but… carefulness is even more important than speed”. The testing would be in addition to standard emissions tests.