Photo: Volkswagen via QuattroDaily
Problems keep on piling up for the former head of Audi, Rupert Stadler, on account of his alleged involvement in covering up aspects of the Dieselgate scandal which erupted in 2015.
Following his arrest in June and subsequent replacement at the helm of the four-ringed brand with Abraham Schot, the parent group of the brand, Volkswagen, said it would remove Stadler from its board at his own request, and only temporary.
The decision became permanent this week, as a footnote of the glamour displayed at the Paris Auto Show – an event the Volkswagen brand did not attend. Volkswagen said on Tuesday that because of Stadler still being under arrest and unable to perform his duties, his role as a member of the board was terminated.
The decision came after the car maker reached an undisclosed agreement with its former executive, which will stop him from working anywhere within the group and ending a nearly 30-years career. It also warned that the contract signed with Stadler “depends on the course and outcome of the criminal proceedings.”
“Mr. Stadler is leaving the companies with immediate effect and will no longer work for the Volkswagen Group. Mr. Stadler is doing so because, due to his ongoing pretrial detention, he is unable to fulfill his duties as a member of the board of management and wishes to concentrate on his defense,” Volkswagen said.
Stadler was arrested by German prosecutors on June 18, and is suspected of having concealed evidence. He is said to have allowed rigged engines to be fitted into cars, despite knowing they were tampered with.
Audi was dragged into the Dieselgate scandal ever since its onset, with a total of 210,000 diesel cars fitted with the defeat device that allowed them to cheat emissions tests.
Stadler is the first high-ranking Volkswagen Group executive to be charged in Europe as part of the investigation.
The decision became permanent this week, as a footnote of the glamour displayed at the Paris Auto Show – an event the Volkswagen brand did not attend. Volkswagen said on Tuesday that because of Stadler still being under arrest and unable to perform his duties, his role as a member of the board was terminated.
The decision came after the car maker reached an undisclosed agreement with its former executive, which will stop him from working anywhere within the group and ending a nearly 30-years career. It also warned that the contract signed with Stadler “depends on the course and outcome of the criminal proceedings.”
“Mr. Stadler is leaving the companies with immediate effect and will no longer work for the Volkswagen Group. Mr. Stadler is doing so because, due to his ongoing pretrial detention, he is unable to fulfill his duties as a member of the board of management and wishes to concentrate on his defense,” Volkswagen said.
Stadler was arrested by German prosecutors on June 18, and is suspected of having concealed evidence. He is said to have allowed rigged engines to be fitted into cars, despite knowing they were tampered with.
Audi was dragged into the Dieselgate scandal ever since its onset, with a total of 210,000 diesel cars fitted with the defeat device that allowed them to cheat emissions tests.
Stadler is the first high-ranking Volkswagen Group executive to be charged in Europe as part of the investigation.
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