Winterkorn Steps Down as Audi Chairman

Former Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn has relinquished his role as chairman of the group’s Audi unit, effective immediately.

Winterkorn resigned as VW’s CEO on Sept. 23, shortly after the company admitted cheating on diesel emission tests in the U.S. He also agreed to resign as chairman of the executive board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, VW’s controlling shareholder, effective Oct. 31.

In addition, Winterkorn is expected to soon step down as head of VW’s Scania commercial truck unit and the company’s recently created Truck & Bus GmbH unit.

VW labor, which holds half the seats on VW’s supervisory board, has been pressuring the company and Winterkorn to vacate all four of the VW-related posts as a signal of good corporate governance.

Multiple reports say Winterkorn’s dictatorial management style fostered a corporate culture of fear that may have encouraged engineers to cheat on diesel emission tests to meet his vehicle performance expectations.