Volkswagen announced that Matthias Müller will become the Group’s new Chairman, after the resignation of Martin Winterkorn on Wednesday.
Matthias Müller, who was considered the strongest candidate for Winterkorn’s position, will remain Chairman of Porsche as well until a successor has been found. The 62-year-old German is taking one of the hottest seats in the automotive industry right now, as Volkswagen tries to deal with perhaps the biggest scandal of its history.
“My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group – by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation”, said Matthias Müller, VW’s new Chairman. “Under my leadership, Volkswagen will do everything it can to develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry. If we manage to achieve that then the Volkswagen Group with its innovative strength, its strong brands and above all its competent and highly motivated team has the opportunity to emerge from this crisis stronger than before.”
Volkswagen was caught cheating on US emission tests, with the company admitting the use of a secret software code on specific diesel models that allowed the vehicle to turn off emission controls during driving on the road and turn them back on when tested for emissions while standstill.
Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the Group Works Council, commented: “When it comes to leadership appointments the Volkswagen Group does not need hasty decisions. We know and value Matthias Müller for his determination and decisiveness. He does not work on his own, rather he is a team player. That is what Volkswagen needs now.”
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