BREAKING: Winterkorn Takes Responsibility And Resigns As CEO Of Volkswagen

“As C.E.O. I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines,” Mr. Winterkorn, 68, who had headed the company since 2007, said in a statement.

But he continued to insist that he personally had committed no misconduct. “I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part,” he said.

Volkswagen shares, which had been up on Wednesday after two days of steep declines, remained nearly 6 percent higher on the news late in the day in Germany. But they were still about 25 percent below the closing price in Frankfurt on Friday, before news of the scandal broke.

TheSteve - 9/23/2015 1:14:00 PM

0 Boost

Not too long ago, I posted on AutoSpies that VW will find a scapegoat for this scandal. Now we have that.

But stuff like this isn't *just* the CEO's doing. There's a chain of executives and senior managers who all went along with it. That part, we'll leave alone because we have our scapegoat, our Symbol Of Evil, and he's gone now, so we're all good to go. Right?

Agent009 - 9/23/2015 1:48:27 PM

+5 Boost

He probably never knew of it. But not much else he can do in this case.

Remember he has a HUGE amount of stock and if they can't get this behind them quickly he will lose millions in the long run. Unlike the Takata CEO, Winkerkorn threw himself on the sword for the good of the company.

TeibNet - 9/23/2015 6:23:59 PM

+1 Boost

If he gets credit for the company's, then he should also get credit for said company's failures. As the saying goes, the buck stops with the CEO...

jameswisrik - 9/23/2015 2:39:25 PM

+1 Boost

to easy.... step down!!! how about prison time. Same for GM execs... We want prison time and HUGE fines that aren't paid by taxpayers. Time to get rid of unethical business practice! use GM / VW as examples.

Vette71 - 9/23/2015 3:49:52 PM

+1 Boost

Grow up!! Folks at the top of huge organizations, businesses, government etc. don't and cannot know everything. You continually propose standards that you couldn't meet.

TeibNet - 9/23/2015 6:24:28 PM

+2 Boost

Be patient; time will tell...

Socalcarnut - 9/23/2015 5:39:10 PM

+3 Boost

The issue is that even if the top Execs at VW and GM and other companies do not know this type of misconduct is taking place, they still run the company and are responsible at the highest level for cultivating/allowing an overall culture where employees even think this type of conduct is okay. CEOs cannot control everybody but they can cultivate a culture of zero tolerance with serious consequences and clearly that signal is not being sent from the top.

Vette71 - 9/23/2015 7:22:15 PM

+2 Boost

Yes you outline those key cultural aspects. And having done that, there are still people who violate those norms. So the CEO sends a signal by promptly dealing with them. Such is the example of Mary Barra firing the folks responsible for not following GM's processes. And she continues to send messages about not letting customers down again. That is a CEO responsibility. We don't know who did what at VW yet. The CEO leaving could be scapegoating. It doesn't get to the root of the problem.

MDarringer - 9/23/2015 7:14:57 PM

+1 Boost

Firing Winterkorn is at best a first step. Firing high-level engineers needs to happen. How about doubling the warranty on the TDIs that are a part of the problem? How about cutting a rebate check to the owner of every affected TDI?

VAGrukidding - 9/23/2015 8:20:24 PM

+3 Boost

Clean house. Shut down motorsports for a while. Spend the money on the beaten up consumers with ramp up production of e-Golf and e-tron models and give even trades to customers, where available. A fast way to expand the conversation about VW and its green focus.

mini22 - 9/24/2015 12:51:18 AM

+1 Boost

I think it has been the culture at Volkswagen, just as it's been with Toyota and GM. When you strive to be the worlds #1 company inevitably shortcuts end up being taken. Whether Winterkorn knew about it remains to be seen. In VW's case this culture of divide and conquer started with Ferdinand Piech. Remember Winterkorn was Piech's man for many years. But Piech was probably the one who started this culture and Winterkorn carried the torch forward. There are some executives and engineers who heads have to roll in order to right the ship.

jameswisrik - 9/24/2015 7:28:41 AM

+1 Boost

THE PROBLEM IS WHOM WILL BUY A 2ND HAND TDI? VW WILL HAVE TO EITHER REPLACE ENGINES OR BUY IT BACK. THIS IS VEHICLES SOLD OVER A DECADE ALL OVER THE WORLD. THIS COULD LITERALLY SHRINK VW TO THE SIZE OF SATURN/PONTIAC. THE GERMAN GOV'T WILL SPEND BILLIONS / TRILLIONS TO BAILOUT VW! LAWSUITS ALL OVER THE PLANET AND PENALTIES FROM GOVT ALL OVER. GERMAN GOVT CAN'T AFFORD IT...AND GREECE/SPAIN IS NOT PAYING BACK THEIR DEBT! ALL EUROPEAN AUTOMAKERS PUSHED FOR DIESEL WILL NOW BE CAREFULLY LOOKED AT.

jameswisrik - 9/24/2015 7:33:27 AM

+1 Boost

GM AND VW...NOT TOYOTA. NASA/NHTSA AND COUNTLESS INDEPENDENT ENGINEERING FIRMS STILL CANNOT FIND THE ISSUE W/ TOYOTA. NO ONE WANTS TO BLAME THE DRIVERS...I DO! GM CAN BE TRACED BACK TO IGNITION ISSUES. VW ADMITTED TO CHEATING. VW GM ARE ISSUES YOU CAN TRACE BACK TO THE ACTUAL SOURCE! TOYOTA- NO ONE HAS PROVE IT WAS A SOFTWARE/HARDWARE ISSUE..EXCEPT FOR OLD PEOPLE DRINKING AT LUNCH AND A FLOOR MAT BIGGER THAN SHOULD BE.

Holydude - 9/24/2015 2:55:59 PM

+1 Boost

Trust me, something like this, he definitely knows.