VW Group CEO quits amid emissions scandal

The scandal broke last week, following a report from the US Environmental Protection Agency. It said “the BMW Group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests”.

German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt reportedly said he did not know how numerous 11mln diesel-powered cars affected by the issue were in Europe.

Three faculty members and two graduate students worked on the study. The code detects when it is being driven on an emissions test cycle, and turns on its full controls.

“For years, experts have been finding wide discrepancies between the promised emissions of diesel vehicles and the way they perform in reality”.

The EPA accused VW of installing the “defeat device” in 482,000 cars sold in the U.S. VW then acknowledged that similar software exists in 11 million diesel cars worldwide.

“We have been informed that also in Europe, vehicles with 1.6 and 2.0 litre diesel engines are affected by the manipulations that are being talked about”, he said.

According to Volkswagen’s inner regulations, Winterkorn can get severance if the supervisory board terminates his contract early, but the payment can be blocked if he does something that causes this exit.

Winterkorn, who during his eight years in charge oversaw a doubling in Volkswagen’s sales and an nearly tripling in profit, said he was shocked that misconduct on such a massive scale had been possible at the company.

Yesterday the firm’s chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned over the crisis, but implied that he had not been aware of the deceit by adding that there had been “no wrong doing” on his part.

“Volkswagen needs a fresh start – also in terms of personnel”, he said. “I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation”, he said.

“I have always been driven by my desire to serve this company, especially our customers and employees”. Volkswagen has been, is and will always be my life.

Also Thursday, Olaf Lies, economy and transport minister of VW’s home state Lower Saxony, which holds a 20 percent stake in the company, said the investigation into the scandal was only just starting.

“This could well lead to one of the largest group claims ever in this country against Volkswagen for the way in which consumers may have been misled in relation to their vehicle”. Republication or redistribution of content provided by EconoTimes is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of EconoTimes, except for personal and non-commercial use.