VW names veteran insider as new CEO during scandal

Newly appointed Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller smiles after a meeting of Volkswagen's supervisory board in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, after CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned Wednesday amid an emissions scandal.
Newly appointed Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller smiles after a meeting of Volkswagen's supervisory board in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, after CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned Wednesday amid an emissions scandal.

BERLIN — Volkswagen's board appointed Matthias Mueller, the head of the group's Porsche unit, as CEO on Friday — handing a longtime company insider the task of trying to lead the world's top-selling automaker past a growing emissions-rigging scandal.

The company also said it was suspending some employees and would reorganize its North America operations after admitting it had cheated on diesel car emissions tests in the U.S. through a piece of software.

The decisions come after the previous CEO, Martin Winterkorn, quit the job this week over the scandal, which has damaged the company's reputation and threatens its business.

The company faces fines and class action lawsuits that could cost it billions. It will also have to fix software it has said is in some 11 million cars worldwide, more than the 482,000 identified last week by U.S. authorities.

"I am taking on this task at a time in which our company faces unprecedented challenges," Mueller, 62, said at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. "I have respect for this, but I am also facing this task with confidence."

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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