Volkswagen Names Matthias Muller As New CEO

The Volkswagen Group has named current Porsche chief Matthias Müller as the new CEO of Volkswagen AG, who faces the difficult task of steering the German auto giant out of the diesel emissions scandal that has dominated the news.

Porsche SE owns a 50.76 percent controlling share of the Volkswagen Group.

Müller replaces Martin Winterkorn, who, after having accepted responsibility for the company's deliberate attempts to cheat emissions tests, resigned on Thursday in an effort to "win back trust" with Volkswagen customers.

In a statement released overnight, Volkswagen was optimistic that Müller, an industry veteran with 38 years experience who has been Porsche CEO since 2010, was "what the company needs now".

"Matthias Müller is exactly the right man at the right time to make a fresh start and to drive clarification of the current crisis that has hit our company with decisiveness and to draw the right conclusions," the statement read.

The scandal, widely dubbed "dieselgate" in social media, saw Volkswagen's EA189 2.0 litre diesel engine - which has been fitted to some 11 million vehicles worldwide - exposed as being fitted with software that allowed it to cheat emissions tests.

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