Volkswagen to name Porsche’s Mueller CEO

First brought to light by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month, VW is said to have installed sophisticated software known as “defeat devices” that only turned on full emissions controls when it sensed official testing taking place, but otherwise emitted 10 to 40 times the legal amount while on the road.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen said that as many as 11 million cars were affected and possibly subject to a global recall.

A day after longtime CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned over the scandal, a member of Volkswagen’s supervisory board said he expects more executives to step down. The new CEO of Volkswagen was announced today.

Porsche chief Matthias Mueller will be named the new CEO of Volkswagen, sources revealed to Reuters, as the fallout from the German automobile manufacturer’s emissions test cheating scandal continued to expand.

The company also said it was suspending some employees and would reorganize its North America operations after admitting it had cheated on diesel auto emissions tests in the USA through a piece of software.

The European Union wants quick answers as to how Volkswagen was able to use stealth software in its vehicles so they could pass lab tests on emission pollution standards.

“If we manage to achieve that then the Volkswagen Group with its innovative strength, its strong brands and above all its competent and highly motivated team has the opportunity to emerge from this crisis stronger than before”.

Though Winterkorn oversaw a doubling in sales and a near tripling in profit during his eight-year reign, he faced criticism for Volkswagen’s underperformance in the USA and for a micro-management style that critics say delayed model launches and hampered its ability to adapt to local markets.

BRITAIN: The Vehicle Certification Agency is working with automakers “to ensure that this issue is not industry-wide”, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said.

It is not yet clear whether it helped cheat tests as it did in the U.S., Germany said.

Mr Mueller, 62, formerly worked as VW’s head product strategist, and is understood to have substantial backing among the company’s 20-member supervisory board.

The ban came as authorities from India to Norway announced new probes, while the U.S. environmental regulator said it would test all diesel auto models. It said that “the BMW Group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests”.

INDIA: The government has instructed the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to inspect VW cars and see if the cars sold there were the same as in the U.S. and whether they had the same software. The company indicated that it was setting aside $7.3 billion to address the scandal.

Meanwhile, the number of investigations of the German automaker expanded again Thursday with confirmation that at least 27 USA state attorneys general have initiated a multi-state investigation of Volkswagen over its representations to consumers over their diesel vehicles.

Private law firms are also lining up to take on the German company, with a class action suit already filed by a Seattle law firm.