Porsche chief Matthias Mueller is tipped to succeed Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in the midst of VW’s emissions scandal.
Embattled car-maker Volkswagen is set to name its new chief executive today, as it tries to deal with the biggest crisis in its history.
Porsche boss Matthias Mueller is expected to get the nod, replacing Martin Winterkorn, who resigned on Wednesday after it was revealed VW had fitted millions of cars and vans with software which allowed them to falsely pass emissions tests.
Porsche boss Matthias Mueller is expected to be the new top man at VW
Mr Mueller, 62, has worked for parts of the Volkswagen group for almost four decades.
Mr Mueller will have his work cut out for him, with the company expected to sack the research and development chiefs of Audi and Porsche, Ulrich Hackenberg and Wolfgang Hatz, along with Volkswagen’s top executive in the US Michael Horn.
Mr Hackenberg and Mr Hatz were both in senior roles at VW, working in development, including engine development, before they moved to Audi and Porsche.
It comes as the UK Government begins its own investigation into the use of rigged data, which could see all diesel cars in Britain re-tested.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the Government was taking the “unacceptable actions of VW extremely seriously”.
He went on: “We have called on the EU to conduct a Europe-wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars here have been fitted with defeat devices.
“In the meantime we are taking robust action. The Vehicle Certification Agency, the UK regulator, is working with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that this issue is not industry wide.
“As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions.”
Details of the 11 million cars fitted with the dodgy software are also set to be released in the next day or two, which will tell drivers of diesel VWs, Audis, Skodas or Seats whether their vehicle could be recalled.
Volkswagen already faces billions of pounds worth of fines, class suits and a criminal investigation in the US.
The company sells more cars than any other company but has seen its shares plunge by 40% since Friday.
This was when US regulators said it admitted to fitting the emission test-cheating software to hundreds of thousands of diesel cars.
Mercedes on Friday said it does not use defeat devices “which illegitimately limit the effectiveness of the exhaust after-treatment system”. A spokesman said: “This applies to every Mercedes-Benz diesel and petrol engine worldwide.”
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