Audi Chief Rupert Stadler Arrested In Germany Over Volkswagen Diesel Scandal

The head of Volkswagen’s luxury arm Audi, Rupert Stadler, was arrested at his home in Ingolstadt on Monday morning over the German carmaker’s emissions test cheating scandal in Europe. Prosecutors are said to have arrested Stadler due to fears of him hindering an ongoing investigation into the scandal. The arrest has led to a leadership crisis at Volkswagen as the world’s largest carmaker has been trying to introduce a new leadership structure to speed up the group’s shift towards electric vehicles.

“As part of an investigation into diesel affairs and Audi engines, the Munich prosecutor’s office executed an arrest warrant against Mr Professor Rupert Stadler on June 18, 2018,” said the Munich prosecutor’s office in a statement.

Audi and VW have confirmed the arrest and has clarified that there was still a presumption of innocence for Stadler. Meanwhile, Porsche SE, which controls VW and Audi, said that the company. Soon after the news of the arrest broke out, Volkswagen AG’s board held a six hour-long meeting to find a new leader for Audi. However, the members weren’t able to come to a decision and have appointed Audi’s sales boss Bram Schot as the carmaker’s interim chief executive officer.

Bram Schot, who has been at the helm of Audi’s sales and marketing division since September, is so far untainted by the emissions scandal. He had joined VW from Daimler AG in 2011. Meanwhile, the board members are said to be working on a permanent option for the company and are likely to hold discussions today and tomorrow.

Stadler is likely to create in custody for a while as there have been fears that he could obstruct or hinder the investigation into the diesel emissions scandal which has already cost the German carmakers billions of dollars. Recently, the carmaker was asked to pay a fine of € 1 billion by German authorities, the biggest ever fine imposed on any company in the country. It follows a plea agreement in the US from earlier this year when the carmaker agreed to pay $4.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil penalties for cheat devices in their diesel-powered cars to comply with US emission tests.

The Volkswagen group isn’t the only one affected by an emission scandal. Recently, even Daimler AG was asked to recall 7.74 lakh diesel cars fitted with “prohibited shutoff devices.” Read more about it here. The Dieselgate scandal, which emerged in September 2015, has led to regulatory crackdowns across the auto industry.