In the biggest scandal in the company’s 78-year history, Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn resigned last Wednesday over the carmaker’s rigging of US emissions tests.
The scandal comes after more than 11 million Volkswagen cars were fitted with Type EA 189 engines and have shown a noticeable deviation in emissions levels between the cars when being tested and when being used on roads.
It had been announced that the company had sold 10.1 million cars in the whole of 2014.
This week, Volkswagen shares closed up 5.2 per cent at 111.5 Euros. More than $30 billion had been wiped off the company’s market value since the crisis began, marking the stock’s lowest point.
Even social media users and dealers in the US launched the trending hashtag “#dieselgate” on Twitter where people are holding back from buying diesel cars.
Metzler analyst Juergen Pieper said that Winterkorn’s resignation, though a major slap to the gigantic German motor company, was the only option in the face of a scandal of such magnitude, as someone must be held responsible.
“Volkswagen needs a fresh start – also in terms of personnel. I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation,” Winterkorn told the press.
It is not clear yet who is going to follow Winterkorn, thought the position could go to Matthias Mueller who heads the company’s Porsche division.
Winterkorn said he was shocked that misconduct on such a massive scale had been possible at the company, adding that he was not aware of any wrongdoing.
Late last Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had urged Volkswagen to move “as quickly as possible” to restore confidence in a company held up for generations as a paragon of German engineering prowess.
