Winterkorn Remains in VW’s Background

Former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn continues to hold four jobs linked to the company he resigned from a week ago, Reuters points out. Critics say his continuing presence hampers VW's ability to recover from its diesel emission cheating scandal.

Most notably, Winterkorn remains CEO of Porsche Autombil Holdings SE, the company that controls a majority stake in VW Group. He also continues as chairman of the group's Audi brand, Scania commercial truck unit and five-month-old Truck & Bus GmbH holding company.

Investigators in Germany are probing Winterkorn's possible involvement in VW's rigging of 11 million diesel-powered vehicles with software to cheat government emission standards. Winterkorn resigned as the group's CEO to give the company a "fresh start" in dealing with the resulting crisis.

A source tells Reuters that Winterkorn has been reluctant to quit his other positions because doing so could imply guilty.