Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Becomes Political Disaster - Acting Chairman

Acting chairman of the of the company's supervisory board Berthold Huber said that an emission cheating scandal at Germany's Volkswagen manufacturer became an ethical and political catastrophe for the company.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — An emission cheating scandal at Germany's Volkswagen manufacturer became an ethical and political catastrophe for the company, Berthold Huber, the acting chairman of the of the company's supervisory board, said Friday.

Earlier in the day, Volkswagen’s management board appointed Matthias Mueller as its new chief executive after Martin Winterkorn resigned as his company was found to have rigged emissions tests for diesel engines.

"I want to be very clear, the manipulation of tests for diesel engines is a moral and political disaster," Huber said at a press conference at company headquarters in Wolfsburg.

Huber added that the illegal behaviour of Volkswagen’s developers and technicians in the development of engines had shocked the company as much as it had the international community.

Last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of tampering with its Volkswagen and Audi diesel-engine vehicles to circumvent emission standards. The agency ordered the company to recall 482,000 cars and suggested it would face $18 billion in fines.

The manufacturer admitted on Tuesday that as many as 11 million of its cars worldwide may have been engineered to downplay the emissions standards, setting aside $7.2 billion to cover the costs of fixing the damages.