VW names Schot as interim Audi chief

Bloomberg

Volkswagen AG picked Bram Schot as interim chief at its Audi unit, taking nearly two days to decide after being caught wrong-footed by the surprise arrest of longtime leader Rupert Stadler over his role in the diesel-emissions scandal.
The decision elevates an executive so far untainted by the slow-motion scandal that continues to burn almost three years after the company admitted to rigging emissions test.
Audi accepted a request by Stadler, who remains in custody pending questioning, “to release him from his duties,” according to a statement on Tuesday. The deferential wording contrasts with an executive reshuffle in September, which Schot was also part of, that ousted four out of seven board members without explaining their shortcomings.
The drawn-out manner of Stadler’s suspension also underscores the struggles the company faces to finally draw a line under the crisis. Volkswagen has stood by Stadler, even as allegations over his role in the scandal started to build within weeks of it becoming public in September 2015. Leading to his arrest was an intercepted phone conversation that led prosecutors to conclude he tried to influence witnesses, a person familiar with the situation said earlier.
“Volkswagen has chosen a strategy of a careful clean-up, and keeping a degree of control over the process, that has left in place many of the people who held important positions during the diesel cheating,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “The disadvantage of that is a company only very slowly moving out of the crisis.”