Volkswagen boss quits over Dieselgate

Volkswagen Group chief executive Martin Winterkorn has resigned following revelations his firm cheated US EPA diesel car emissions.

Winterkorn said that he accepted responsibility for the ‘deveat device’ but said he was shocked by his firm’s behaviour.

“I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group,” said the VW chief exec.

Winterkorn also added that he was “not aware of any wrongdoing on my part”.

VW has already set aside a $A10 billion to cover the cost of ‘fixing’ the scandal in the US.

In a press conference late last night, Winterkorn said: "I am clearing the way for a fresh start with my resignation" but announced that he was confident the VW Group would overcome this “grave crisis”.

Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board, which met shortly before the Volkswagen chief exec resigned, said that that a successor for Winterkorn will be appointed this Friday.

German newspapers have already speculated that that person will be the current Porsche boss, Matthias Mueller.

Since the scandal began at the beginning of this week Volkswagen’s share price fell some 30 per cent following the announcement. Volkswagen could face fines totalling up to $A25b.

Described by one German newspaper as the "most expensive act of stupidity in the history of the car industry", more than $A14b has been wiped off VW’s value and the losses won’t stop there, according to widespread feeling within the industry that damage has already been done, both to the brand and loss of consumer confidence in diesels.

VW says that as many as 11 million vehicles worldwide could be affected.