As the scandal kept brewing for the past few days, it was a “public secret” that the CEO of VW, Martin Winterkorn was on a tight rope and would eventually have to take a fall.
After the German Car-manufacturer giant admitted to having installed specific software on close to 11 million diesel vehicles in order to ”pass” emissions tests, a world-wide brouhaha brewed and exploded.
Perhaps, in an effort to curtail the damage of this exploding news, Winterkorn was forced to make this decision and move forward with it. In a statement just released, Winterkorn states: “I am shocked by the events of the past few days. Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group… As CEO, I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the Supervisory Board to agree on terminating my functions as CEO of the Volkswagen Group. I am doing this in the interests of the company even though I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part."
According to the EPA, Diesel Volkswagen and Audi models from 2009 to 2015 had been installed with a modified Software which side-stepped the EPA’s required emissions tests. During testing, the vehicles would appear to be “clean” in terms of emissions; however, once sold or on the road, they would emit much more pollutants.
Volkswagen has also admitted that this deception went beyond its US Fleet. In terms of reparation, VW has said that it will set aside 6.5 Billion Euros this quarter in order to cover the costs of bringing the cars into compliance. Some experts are doubtful if this amount will be able to also cover the cost of the fines which the US and some European Governments will most likely levy against the car manufacturer.
If there is a positive note to mention regarding Winterkorn’s resignation is the fact that after the sharp fall in the stock price of VW following the news of the “scam,” once he made the announcement, the stock is climbing back up, again.
