Martin Winterkorn is out from Volkswagen. Earlier this morning, Winterkorn has announced that he is to resign following the scandal surrounding the emissions of its diesel cars. In a statement issued by the company Winterkorn said he was “shocked by the events of the past few days.” “Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group.”

A successor will be named this Friday.

VW was caught gaming the EPA and CARB (California Air Resources Board) diesel emissions tests (particulates and nitrous oxide) which triggered a huge media scandal. It has been reported that VW has earmarked 6.5B Euros for re-mediation, that is to ‘fix’ the problem with the existing cars. This is above and beyond a potential $18B fine that the EPA may levy.
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The emissions scandal has wiped nearly 26 billion euros ($29 billion) off its market value this week.

In stepping down Wednesday, Winterkorn said he was “not aware of any wrongdoing on my part” but had accepted the “responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the Supervisory Board to agree on terminating my function as CEO of the Volkswagen Group.”

The former CEO seemed to have clinched a two-year contract extension earlier this year after a leadership battle with longstanding chairman, Ferdinand Piech.