September 23, 2015

Volkswagen CEO Quits As Pollution-Cheating Scandal Envelops Automaker

Vytautas Kielaitis/Shutterstock

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On Wednesday morning, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn announced that he will be stepping down from his position as chief of the German automaker. His departure comes in the wake of a scandal that forced the car company to admit it violated US law by using software to cheat on pollution tests. Winterkorn has been the company’s CEO since 2007.

“I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group,” Winterkorn said in an announcement. He maintains he was not aware of the piece of software that allowed cars to evade emissions controls.

This is a breaking news post. We will update as more information becomes available.

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And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

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