Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn stepped down Wednesday, days after admitting that the world’s top-selling carmaker had rigged diesel emissions to pass US tests during his tenure.
In a statement, Mr Mr Winterkorn took responsibility for the “irregularities” found in diesel engines but said he was “not aware of any wrongdoing on my part.”
“Volkswagen needs a fresh start – also in terms of personnel,” he said. “I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation.”
Mr Winterkorn’s statement followed a crisis meeting of the Volkswagen supervisory board’s executive committee. Its acting chairman, Berthold Huber, told reporters moments later that company directors are “resolved to embark with determination on a credible new beginning.”
There was no immediate decision on a new CEO. Mr Huber said that will be discussed only at a board meeting on Friday.
Mr Winterkorn said VW must continue providing “clarification and transparency.”
“This is the only way to win back trust. I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis,” he added.
Mr Winterkorn, VW’s boss since 2007, had come under intense pressure since the disclosure that stealth software makes VW’s 2009-2015 model cars powered by 2.0-litre diesel engines run cleaner during emissions tests than in actual driving.
The EPA accused VW of installing the “defeat device” in 482,000 cars sold in the US. VW then acknowledged that similar software exists in 11 million diesel cars worldwide.
Mr Huber said that “Mr Winterkorn had no knowledge of the manipulation of emission values” and praised the departing CEO’s “readiness to take responsibility in this difficult situation for Volkswagen.”
Before the scandal broke, Mr Winterkorn, 68, had been expecting to get a two-year contract extension, through 2018, at Friday’s board meeting.
His resignation came only a day after he issued a video message asking staff and the public “for your trust on our way forward.”
The EPA said Volkswagen could face fines of as much as US$18 billion. Other governments from Europe to South Korea have begun their own investigations, and law firms have already filed class-action suits on behalf of customers.
VW directors renewed pledges of a thorough investigation after Mr Winterkorn’s resignation.
“We will clear up these events with all the possibilities we have inside the company and ensure that those involved are punished severely,” said Stephan Weil, the governor of Lower Saxony state, which holds a 20 per cent stake in Volkswagen.
Mr Weil added that the company itself would file a criminal complaint, “because we have the impression that criminally relevant actions may have played a role here.”
The prosecutors’ office in Braunschweig, near VW’s Wolfsburg headquarters, said earlier Wednesday that they are collecting information and considering opening an investigation against employees of VW who might be responsible.
Prosecutors said they already received “several” criminal complaints. Anyone can file a criminal complaint in Germany, and prosecutors must decide whether to act on them.
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The biog
Age: 19
Profession: medical student at UAE university
Favourite book: The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
Role model: Parents, followed by Fazza (Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed)
Favourite poet: Edger Allen Poe
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Indoor Cricket World Cup
Venue Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE squad Saqib Nazir (captain), Aaqib Malik, Fahad Al Hashmi, Isuru Umesh, Nadir Hussain, Sachin Talwar, Nashwan Nasir, Prashath Kumara, Ramveer Rai, Sameer Nayyak, Umar Shah, Vikrant Shetty
ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
