Two More VW Executives Said to be Departing Amid Emissions Scandal -- Update

By Hendrik Varnholt 

FRANKFURT--Two top lieutenants of former Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn are being replaced, according to people familiar with the situation--the latest fallout from the company's admission that software embedded in its engines duped U.S. diesel-emissions testing.

Ulrich Hackenberg, chief technology officer of VW's Audi unit, and Wolfgang Hatz, board member for research and development at VW's Porsche AG, are to be replaced, two people familiar with the situation said Thursday.

VW's entire supervisory board, a group of executives including major shareholders who preside over management in a similar way as a U.S. board of directors, is slated to meet Friday. Mr. Winterkorn resigned Wednesday.

Members of the supervisory board's executive committee said after their meeting Wednesday and after Mr. Winterkorn's resignation, further personnel decisions will be taken at Friday's meeting.

Mr. Winterkorn's resignation Wednesday follows a calamitous week after a disclosure last Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that Volkswagen allegedly used software on some of its Volkswagen and Audi diesel-powered cars that make them appear to run cleaner in tests than they do on the road.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen disclosed that as many as 11 million cars were affected and possibly subject to a global recall. The company issued a profit warning and announced it was taking a EUR6.5 billion ($7.27 billion) provision against earnings to cover the costs of fixing the software.

Write to Hendrik Varnholt at [e-mail]

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September 24, 2015 11:32 ET (15:32 GMT)

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