VW's new CEO Mueller vows action to emerge from emission scandal

Volkswagen AG's new chief executive officer, Matthias Mueller, says he'll do what it takes to overcome the worst crisis to ever engulf the German carmaker after revelations of cheating on emissions tests.

The company's supervisory board emerged from a seven-hour meeting Friday to present Mueller as the successor to Martin Winterkorn, who quit Wednesday as the scandal reverberated around the globe and the company lost more than $22.4 billion in market value in two days. Mueller, who previously led the Porsche sports-car brand, said Volkswagen faces "unprecedented challenges."

"My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group, by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation," Mueller said Friday. "Under my leadership, Volkswagen will do everything it can to develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry."

The 62-year-old Mueller takes charge a week after VW was found to have cheated on diesel-emission tests in the U.S. beginning in 2009, triggering billions in potential fines and a U.S. criminal investigation. The company said irregularities involve a diesel engine installed in 11 million vehicles around the world, and said fixing its tarnished reputation with customers will be a long-term task. Signaling its commitment to a fresh start, Volkswagen signed off on a new structure, with more power moving to the regions and brands such as Audi, Skoda, and Seat.

Some employees have already been suspended with immediate effect, said interim chairman Berthold Huber, calling the crisis a "political and moral catastrophe."

The new structure includes creating a North American group under Winfried Vahland, the head of the Skoda brand. The Bentley and Bugatti brands will be grouped with Porsche, while Audi continues to manage the Lamborghini super-car unit and Ducati motorcycles. The VW brand will have four regional chiefs reporting to Herbert Diess, the head of the automaker's largest unit.

Sales chief Christian Klingler will leave the company because of strategic differences. He will be replaced by Juergen Stackmann, the head of the Seat brand. Luca de Meo, the sales chief at Audi, will succeed Stackmann at the mass-market Spanish brand.