Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigns

In the wake of the scandal surrounding the emission of Volkswagen’s diesel-powered cars, the company’s CEO Martin Winterkorn has decided to step down from his position. Winterkorn’s successor hasn’t been announced yet and recommendations for the same will be made in VW’s board meeting that is scheduled to take place on September 24, 2015.

Winterkorn’s resignation follows after Volkswagen’s dramatic fall from grace that began on September 18, 2015 after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States accused Volkswagen and Audi of using ‘defeat device’ or an illegal software in approximately 4.8 lakh vehicles for cheating official emission tests. 

According to the findings of the EPA, the defeat device could automatically detect when the cars were undergoing an emissions test and change the way the engine behaved automatically. Post the test, the car went back into normal driving mode for day to day usage patterns, thus emitting NOX up to 40 times above the permitted levels.

This software has been used in vehicles including the Volkswagen Beetle, the Volkswagen Golf, the Volkswagen Jetta and the Audi A3 for the 2009-2015 model years. The device has also been used on the 2014-2015 model year Volkswagen Passat which is one of the largest sold cars in the United States.