Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has today resigned from all of his duties.
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Notice I said executive, not CEO.
“I am infinitely sorry that we have disappointed people’s trust. The 600,000 employees of VW can not help it that individuals carried out criminal actions on whatever scale”.
“I am clearing the way for a this fresh start with my resignation”, Winterkorn said. He said, however, that he wasn’t aware of any wrongdoing on his part.
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn had run the automaker since 2007.
Investigations are ongoing within Volkswagen as well as in the U.S. and in Germany.
“The BMW group does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests”.
Bob Rand poses for a photo in his 2014, fully loaded Volkswagen…
And on Wednesday, Braunschweig’s public prosecutor said it had opened a preliminary investigation into the Group, which could lead to legal action.
Colby also said in Tennessee, as in most states, “federal law pre-empts the area of automobile or vehicle engines and air quality”.
Lower Saxony state’s justice ministry says it couldn’t give any information on the number or contents of the complaints. “The German economy has been hit at its core”, said Michael Huether, head of Germany’s IW economic institute. “I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis”.
Brzeski concedes that it is “unclear” what the impact of the VW crisis will be, but that there will likely be one given the size of VW.
Now the most important thing is to use this moment in time productively.
“It’s a federal matter, and the federal folks will sort it out with the Volkswagen folks and any other manufacturer involved”, he said. BMW’s closed up 0.6 percent, while Daimler’s was up 0.3 percent.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen said 11 million of its vehicles worldwide contained the so-called “defeat device” that allowed the cars to beat the testers.
Dobrindt this week set up a commission of inquiry to look into the scandal.
The EPA has directed Volkswagen to recall affected vehicles for repairs.
Meanwhile, shares in Volkswagen have continued to tumble.
Other auto companies have seen the Volkswagen scandal weigh down their shares. As of midday Wednesday, the company’s market capitalization stood at about $67 billion, down from about $86 billion when the emissions deception was revealed.
“Dealers despise being kept in the dark, and the carmakers as a whole will be a sector to swerve until there is a conclusion to this saga”, said David Madden, a market analyst at IG. For the iconic carmaker, which made Das Auto synonymous with German engineering wizardry, the biggest damage would be the irreparable dent to its image. “And, to be clear, manipulation and Volkswagen – this must never happen again”.
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On September 18th, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to Volkswagen AG when it came to light that certain Audi and VW four-cylinder diesel models were engineered to cheat on emission test results. It did not say what the cause for the alleged problem was.
