Volkswagen‘s Cleanup Push Overseen by Scandal-Scarred Former CEO

While Winterkorn was pressured to step down as VW‘s CEO last week, he remains in the top executive job at Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which owns 52.2 percent of the automaker‘s voting stock. He‘s also still chairman of VW‘s publicly traded Audi AG unit as well as the group‘s truck holding company, among other positions. His continued role is a contentious issue especially for labor leaders, said people familiar with the issue. It also raises questions about whether VW can truly reform itself with old-guard insiders in key positions.

„It shows that modern corporate governance doesn‘t play a role at Volkswagen,“ said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. „They need someone independent at the main shareholder. The VW CEO is going to say the company is doing great.“