Volkswagen fires jailed Audi CEO amid emissions probe

London
cnn
,

Volkswagen has cut ties with suspended Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, who has been jailed since June in connection with an emissions investigation.

Stadler has left the management board of Audi’s parent company Volkswagen (VLKAF) and resigned as chairman of the premium brand’s management board, the auto group said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Due to his ongoing pretrial detention, he is unable to fulfill his duties as a member of the management board and wishes to focus on his defense,” Stadler’s statement said.

Munich prosecutors said in June that Stadler, who has worked for Volkswagen since 1990, was detained over concerns that he could influence witnesses in the ongoing investigation.

He is the highest-ranking Volkswagen executive to be arrested in connection with the costly diesel emissions scandal that became public in 2015.

Volkswagen had previously said that Stadler would be considered innocent until proven guilty. After Stadler was detained, Audi appointed its top sales executive to lead the company.

The German carmaker has admitted that it rigged millions of diesel engines to cheat emissions tests.

Diesel cars from Volkswagen and its Audi subsidiary cheated clean air rules with software, making emissions appear less toxic than they actually were.

The scandal led to a sharp decline in its share price and a loss of confidence among consumers and regulators in diesel technology. The episode has already cost Volkswagen more than $30 billion in recalls, legal penalties and settlements.

In a separate announcement Tuesday, Volkswagen said it would offer incentives to customers in Germany who want to replace older diesel cars with cleaner models.

Volkswagen’s former chief executive Martin Winterkorn was indicted by US prosecutors in May. He was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud American consumers and violations of the Clean Air Act.

Matthias Müller, who was brought in to replace Winterkorn, stepped down earlier this year and was replaced by BMW veteran Herbert Diess.

Diess admitted in a press conference in April that Volkswagen had “largely lost trust” and that it would take years to restore public confidence in the automaker.