The Volkswagen supervisory board said the company will leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the emission test scandal, will call those responsible to account, and take the necessary actions.
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With the information currently available the supervisory board recommended the immediate suspension of some employees. This process is already underway.
The supervisory board has authorized the chairman to mandate German and US lawyers to objectively investigate and fully clarify the manipulation of emissions data of diesel engines.
The Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board will be charged with coordinating and safeguarding all necessary steps to monitor clarification until such time as a proposed committee commences its work.
The supervisory board decided on the reorganization of the Group’s activities in North America. The markets in the USA, Mexico, and Canada will be combined and significantly strengthened to form a new North America region.
At Group level the management structure will be oriented even more systematically to the modular toolkits. These toolkits feature standardized technical components for each automotive vehicle segment (volume, premium, sport and commercial vehicles).
Consequently, a Porsche brand group with Bentley and Bugatti will be established for the sportscar and mid-engine toolkit. The toolkit strategy will come under the even closer guidance of the Group CEO; a separate department will be set up for this purpose.
The Audi brand group with Lamborghini and Ducati will be continued as will the Truck Holding, and the Power Engineering and Financial Services business lines.
The volume brands Volkswagen (with principal responsibility for the modular transverse toolkit), SEAT, and Å koda will be represented by one member each in the Group Board of Management.
At the same time, existing corporate bodies, structures and processes will be streamlined at group level, in particular by strengthening the brands and regional accountability.
To that end the Volkswagen brand will introduce a management structure with four regions, each led by a local CEO with a direct reporting line to the brand chairman, Herbert Diess. ■