Audi Suspends Stadler, Names Schot as Interim CEO

Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit confirms media reports that it has suspended CEO Rupert Stadler and installed Abraham Schot, formerly the company’s sales and marketing chief, as interim CEO.

Stadler was taken into custody yesterday by German authorities on suspicion of fraud and false advertising regarding his role in developing diesel pollution control device to defeat emission laws.

Schot joined Audi in 2011 from Daimler AG. He is untainted by the cheating scandal, but sources tell Bloomberg News that some members of the Audi board hesitated to appoint him in such haste.

Authorities say Stadler was arrested over fears that he would suppress evidence about the wrongdoing. One spokesman tells Reuters that a raid on his home last week found evidence that Stadler was preparing to tamper with witnesses and influence other suspects.

Critics say Stadler’s arrest, coming nearly three years after VW’s diesel scandal broke, underscores the lack of zeal for reform within Audi. Stadler has been publicly criticized over the past two years for allowing the crisis to fester. But he has retained his job mainly because of support from VW’s founding Piech and Porsche families.

A source tells Reuters that prosecutors are investigating whether Stadler stalled on stopping deliveries of rigged Audi diesels after Audi acknowledged the cheating.