Audi board member takes over after Stadler arrest
Volkswagen suspended Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler and announced an interim replacement yesterday, seeking to steady its most profitable business after German authorities arrested Mr Stadler as part of an emissions probe.
Audi said Mr Stadler, 55, had requested to temporarily step down from his position, and named sales executive Abraham Schot as an interim replacement with immediate effect. Mr Stadler’s arrest has thrown VW back into turmoil almost three years after it admitted to using illegal software to cheat US emissions tests on diesel engines.
Analysts said the arrest raised questions about whether Europe’s biggest car maker had done enough to reform itself in the wake of the crisis, and that it threatened a delicate truce among the group’s powerful stakeholders, who had previously clashed about whether Mr Stadler should remain in power.
VW has set aside about $30 billion (Dh110.2bn) to cover the cost of fines, vehicle refits and lawsuits arising from its “dieselgate” scandal, and is spending billions more on electric vehicles to try to rebuild its reputation.
Munich prosecutors arrested Mr Stadler at his home in Ingolstadt in the early hours of Monday, saying they saw a risk he could try to suppress evidence.
He remains in custody, but has not been charged with a crime.
VW and Audi said on Monday that Mr Stadler was presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. Last week, Munich prosecutors said they were investigating Mr Stadler for suspected fraud and false advertising and for his alleged role in helping to bring cars equipped with illegal software on to the European market.
VW has for years said only lower-level managers knew of the emissions cheating.