Though it has let Rupert Stadler go, Volkswagen holds him in high regard, owing to his long standing and strong performance as CEO of Audi.
Rupert Stadler’s fall from grace accelerated in mid-June, when he came under investigation in connection with Volkswagen’s 2015 emissions testing scandal. Audi, the profitable division and major source of revenue that Stadler led at VW, is accused of selling over 200,000 vehicles fitted with illegal test-cheating software in the U.S. and Europe. While he denies any involvement, Stadler was arrested on suspicion of interfering with the investigation and taken into custody, where he remains.
Nearly four months later, VW has decided to part ways. “Mr. Stadler is leaving the companies with immediate effect and will no longer work for the Volkswagen Group”, the company said in a statement. “Mr. Stadler is doing so because, due to his ongoing pre-trial detention, he is unable to fulfil his duties as a member of the board of management and wishes to concentrate on his defense.”
Stadler was a company veteran, having joined in 1990. He rose through the ranks of senior management, becoming Chief Financial Officer in 2007, then Chairman and CEO of Audi in 2010. After 11 years in the top job, he was the first senior executive to be detained in connection with the so-called Dieselgate scandal. Prosecutors are currently investigating one other member of Audi’s senior management team.
At the time of Stadler’s arrest, VW was staunch in its refusal to terminate him, maintaining that he should be considered innocent until proven guilty. It had no plans to replace him permanently. Instead, VW suspended Stadler and appointed Bram Schot, head of Audi’s sales and marketing division, as interim CEO and Chairman of the management board. Schot has been with Audi since 2011, and became a board member last year.
In July, Volkswagen recruited Markus Duesmann, an engine development and purchasing director at BMW, for an unspecified role. Duesmann has been touted as a potential successor to Stadler since that time. Schot, the interim CEO, is not seen as a strong contender for CEO of Audi, as he lacks an engineering background. Given that VW is prioritising clean-engine expertise to help put the scandal in its rear-view mirror, Duesmann could indeed be a frontrunner.
Stadler’s dismissal coincides with the German government’s announcement on October 2 that it has agreed on a plan to cut pollution from diesel vehicles as the country continues to grapple with the aftermath of the VW emissions scandal, Reuters reports.
