Audi Terminates Jailed CEO Stadler's Contract

Rupert Stadler, the CEO of Audi AG who has been held in jail since June, is leaving the company, effective immediately.

The supervisory boards of Audi and parent Volkswagen AG canceled Stadler’s contract, removed him from the management boards of both companies and canceled his contract.

The boards say terms of Stadler’s severance will depend on the outcome of the criminal proceedings against him.

Stadler was arrested three months ago on suspicion of interfering with an investigation into Audi’s role in parent Volkswagen Group’s diesel emission cheating scandal. He was relieved of his duties shortly thereafter and replaced on an interim basis by Audi sales chief Abraham Schot.

Stadler joined Audi in 1990 and had been chairman of its board since January 2007. He had been appointed to the VW Group board of management in 2010.