Company unveils new CEO

Volkswagen has appointed Matthias Mueller, the head of its Porsche unit, as its new chief executive. The company is also suspending some employees and will reorganise its North American operations after admitting it used engine software to cheat on diesel car emissions tests in the US. The decisions come after previous chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, quit last week over the scandal. Mueller, 62, who has spent his career with Volkswagen Group brands, acknowledges he is taking the job “at a time in which our company faces unprecedented challenges. I have respect for this, but I am also facing this task with confidence”. Speaking at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, he says he will “do everything to win back the trust of our customers, employees, partners, investors and the whole public”. He adds: “We stand by our responsibility. Occasionally, our and your patience will be tested, but carefulness is even more important than speed.” Mueller says it is “decisive that nothing like this ever happens at Volkswagen again, so we will introduce even tougher compliance and governance standards in the company”, while pledged to make Volkswagen “an even stronger company”. The main risk of VW’s decision to go with an insider is that some in the markets may consider Mueller tainted by association with the crisis. The upside is Mueller’s knowledge of the company offers the chance of “faster traction to help root out the problems within the organisation”, according to an automotive commentator in the US. Berthold Huber, acting supervisory board chairman, has lauded Mueller’s “great strategic, entrepreneurial and social competence”, and “critical and constructive” approach. “He knows the group and its brands well, and can immediately engage in his new task with full energy. “The supervisory board has, on the basis of current information, recommended suspending some employees immediately until the whole case is cleared up. This has, in part, already happened.” Huber did not elaborate, and a statement from Volkswagen did not specify which employees, at what level or where they worked. Mueller brings experience with several of Volkswagen’s 12 brands to his new job at the head of a automotive group with nearly 600,000 staff worldwide. He was an apprentice toolmaker at Audi between finishing high school and studying computer science at Munich’s University of Applied Sciences. Mueller returned to Audi in 1978 and worked his way up to become head of product management for Audi, Seat and Lamborghini. In 2007, Mueller became head of product management for the Volkswagen Group. He has been Porsche chief executive since 2010 and a member of parent Volkswagen's management board since March. Alongside Mueller’s appointment, the supervisory board also approved changes to the management structure aimed at scaling back complexity and strengthening brands and regions, reports AP. That includes a reorganisation of the North America business under Winfried Vahland, until now chairman of the board of directors at Czech-based brand Skoda.