NO NEW AUDI CHIEF YET, SAYS VW
Board fails to select new leader after 6 hours of deliberations
VOLKSWAGEN AG’s (VW) board was unable to agree on a new leader for its Audi unit after more than six hours of debate on Monday, with some members balking at making a hasty choice
after the unexpected arrest of the brand’s long-time chief.
Plans by VW stakeholders to quickly appoint Audi sales boss Bram Schot as the unit’s interim chief executive officer following the arrest of Rupert Stadler encountered resistance at a meeting of supervisory board members, and it’s unclear when the situation will be resolved, according to people familiar with the matter.
“The supervisory board members of VW and Audi haven’t reached a decision yet and continue to explore the situation,”
said the carmaker in a statement late on Monday.
Stadler’s arrest, over his role in the manufacturer’s diesel-emissions scandal, is the first among VW group’s management board members.
Board members had planned a routine gathering at the headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, but they were caught by surprise by Stadler’s arrest, and the get-together quickly escalated into a crisis meeting, said the people.
Audi is the VW group’s largest
profit contributor and it can illafford a vacuum at the top.
Stadler was arrested earlier on Monday at his home in Ingolstadt, Germany.
Stadler ’s arrest raises fresh questions about VW’s crisis management that’s alternated between stonewalling and cooperation, while protecting its most senior managers amid swirling allegations that some of the key leaders might have been informed earlier about the dieselengine cheating than they acknowledged so far.