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VW chief resigns as cheating scandal snowballs

Frankfurt - Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn steps down in the interests of the company, board member says new CEO will be announced on Friday.

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said he is stepping down "in the interests of the company" as it grapples with the emissions scandal.
Wintekorn said in a statement on Wednesday that "Volkswagen needs a fresh start - also in terms of personnel. I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation."
He said he was acting in the interests of the company "even though I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part."
The pollution cheating scandal has sparked a US criminal investigation and worldwide legal action with unfathomable financial consequences for the auto giant.
Read: What is the Volkswagen emissions crisis all about?
Volkswagen's stock market nightmare showed the first signs of lifting as its share steadied a little in early trade in Frankfurt, following a two-day free fall that had axed 35 per cent - or 25 billion euros ($28 billion) - off the company's market value. By mid-afternoon the shares were up 8.4 per cent at 114.90 euros as investors snapped up cheap bargains.
However, the world's largest auto manufacturer by sales in the first half of this year still faces a growing tangle of legal threats after it admitted that as many as 11 million of its diesel cars worldwide are equipped with software capable of fooling official pollution tests.
In addition to investigations from France to South Korea, public prosecutors in Germany also said they were examining information and evaluating legal suits already filed against the company by a number of private individuals to decide whether to launch a full criminal inquiry against those responsible at VW.
Winterkorn offered his "deepest apologies" over the revelations on Tuesday.
"I am infinitely sorry that we have disappointed people's trust. I offer my deepest apologies," the 68-year-old executive said in a video statement, promising to be "ruthless" in getting to the bottom of the scandal.
Read: Volkswagen sets aside $7.3 billion over emissions scandal
According to the US authorities, VW has admitted that it equipped about 482,000 cars in the United States with sophisticated software that covertly turns off pollution controls when the car is being driven.
It turns them on only when it detects that the vehicle is undergoing an emissions test.
With the so-called "defeat device" deactivated, the car can spew pollutant gases into the air, including nitrogen oxide in amounts as much as 40 times higher than emissions standards, said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA, which announced the allegations on Friday along with California state authorities, is conducting an investigation that could lead to fines amounting to a maximum of more than $18 billion.
The US Department of Justice has also launched a criminal inquiry led by its environment and natural resources division, a source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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The California Air Resources Board, too, is investigating Volkswagen's pollution violations.
New York Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman said he had launched his own probe of Volkswagen and would work on it with prosecutors from other states across the United States.
Private law firms are lining up to take on the German company, with a class action suit already being filed by a Seattle law firm.
VW has halted all diesel vehicles sales in the United States during the investigations.
The scale of the exposed deception expanded dramatically on Tuesday when Volkswagen said that as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide may have the same "anomalies."
The full impact on the reputation of Volkswagen, whose parent company also owns brands including Audi, Skoda and Lamborghini, is hard to measure.
The scandal has already hit the share price of other car makers, buffeting international stock markets.
Volkswagen has set aside 6.5 billion euros in provisions for the third quarter to cover the potential costs of the revelations.
While the scandal has been restricted to Volkswagen so far, environmental protection groups, particularly in Germany, suspect other car makers may be using similar technology.
The European carmakers' association ACEA said that while it recognised the gravity of the affair, "there is no evidence to suggest that it's a problem across the whole industry."
And the German carmakers' federation VDA insisted that diesel engine technology itself was not in question.
The EPA has said it will screen for defeat devices in other manufacturers' diesel vehicles now on the road, although it declined to identify which brands would be tested.
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said a special commission of inquiry had travelled to VW's headquarters on Wednesday.
France, Britain and other nations have called for a Europe-wide investigation.
South Korean officials summoned VW representatives for explanations on Tuesday, saying tests would be started by "no later than next month."
The United Nations has described the revelations as "extremely troubling."
The German company is likely to face tough questioning in the US House of Representatives' energy and commerce committee, which announced plans for a hearing in the coming weeks.
Volkswagen has promised to be transparent.
"Our company was dishonest... in my German words - we have totally screwed up," the chief executive of Volkswagen America, Michael Horn, said at an event in New York late Monday. 

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