News

Volkswagen calls for an extraordinary board meeting over emission tests issue; will appoint Poetsch as the new head

Volkswagen board of directors will conduct an 'extraordinary' meeting. Reports say CFO Hans Dieter Poetsch will be appointed as the new head while plans for adjustments will also be discussed.

The board of German car manufacturer Volkswagen will hold a meeting on Wednesday. Latest findings concerning its internal investigation would be discussed.

Prior to that, Volkswagen Chief of Finance Hans Dieter Poetsch will be appointed as the new head of the board, Reuters reported.

Recently, the German carmaker was disclosed cheating diesel emissions tests. The management had installed a software which monitors if the car is being tested. It affects 11 million cars around the world.

The software installation started in 2008 under the currently suspended head of R&D at Audi, Ulrich Hackenberg, who used to be the technical development head at Volkswagen before. It was followed by 10 more suspensions of its senior managers.

Automotive News cited the project engineers had used the software since there's no other way to meet both the costs and emissions standards. It prompted lawsuits and investigation when the EPA discovered the practice.

According to a report from the International Business Times, the Volkswagen board postponed the shareholders' meeting on November 9 since they are not yet prepared to answer questions from its shareholders.

The law firm Jones Day must complete its investigation first before they face shareholders at the meeting.

Consequently, Puls survey revealed 41% of the consumer market perceives the Volkswagen brand had been damaged. Whereas 11% said they will not buy a Volkswagen car anymore.

With that matter, VW CEO Mattias Mueller will meet 20,000 workers on Tuesday. He will discuss his plans as to how the company will recover regarding the issue.  

Some adjustments will be implemented, the report said the company's initial investment plan of €100B until 2018 is being reviewed for reductions. However, the asset sales will be excluded in the cost reduction.  

In addition, the board is looking for alternatives to avoid shrinking its credit ratings. Analysts also suggest Volkswagen to sell other brands like Lamborghini, Ducati or Bugatti.

Despite the business crisis that dishonored the 78-year-old car brand, the board is still optimistic the company will suppress the scandal.


Real Time Analytics