Porsche boss Matthias Müller has taken over the giant car manufacturer at their most difficult time in the history of the company.
With multiple lawsuits being prepared in the U.S. on the back of Volkswagen’s admission of cheating the emissions figures of their diesel engines, heads have rolled with the resignation of CEO Martin Winkerkorn, who stepped down from the job following the coming out.
Research and Development heads at Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche have been suspended while Volkswagen owners and dealers around the world come to terms with the crisis.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Germany have opened a criminal investigation into former CEO, Winterkorn, targeting accusations of fraud due to the sale of vehicles with manipulated emissions-test results.
Matthias Müller, VW's former head product strategist was backed by a majority on VW's 20-member supervisory board for the top job. The new CEO trained as a toolmaker before studying information technology and has worked for parts of the VW empire since the 1970s.
Müller, promoted to VW's executive board in March, had been viewed as a favourite of family patriarch Ferdinand Piech, who reportedly sought to install him as VW CEO in place of Winterkorn earlier this year.
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