A udi sales director Bram Schot is to take over the head of the car maker for the time being. However, the CEO Rupert Stadler, who has been imprisoned since Monday, is not being dismissed. On Tuesday, the company announced that Stadler was on a leave of absence from the Supervisory Board. Schot “will take over the chairmanship of Audi with immediate effect provisionally,” it said in a statement. Stadler asked the Supervisory Board to be temporarily released from his duties as Audi CEO and Volkswagen Board member. The supervisory boards of Volkswagen and Audi would have responded to the request.
“Delivery will be temporary until the facts clarify that led to his arrest,” Audi said.
Actually, this step was already expected on Monday. But then the consultations went without result until late into the night. In a teleconference, the supervisory board wanted to decide quickly, who temporarily takes the lead in the VW subsidiary Ingolstadt, it said from business circles. Immediately thereafter, the supervisory board of the VW Group should seal the decision. “It’s clear that you have to find a solution today,” it said. On Monday, the speculation had condensed that the 57-year-old Dutchman Abraham Schot Audi should conduct interim. But also CFO Alexander Seitz was in conversation. Schot has been working since last September
as Sales Director for Audi. Previously, he worked for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Daimler.
As Audi CEO, Stadler is also a member of the VW Group Management Board, which is why both Supervisory Board members were in demand. The Munich public prosecutor had stolen Stadler on Monday morning, surprisingly due to blackout in the diesel affair, he sits since in custody. The investigators had found in the searches a week ago, according to their own information, that the 55-year-old could possibly influence on evidence, other accused or witnesses. It is still unclear how long he will stay in prison.
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Stadler will testify
In the investigation against Stadler, the public prosecutor’s office Munich II, according to a report of ” South German newspaper “Also listened to phone calls from Stadler. This had happened before and after a raid on Stadler last week, the newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing circles of litigants. The manager has led from the point of view of the prosecutor Munich II unmasking phone call. He had spoken in a manner with one or more Audi colleagues, which suggested a cover-up attempt on the extent of the affair.
The Audi boss should be heard no later than Wednesday. Stadler signaled willingness to cooperate and wanted to make statements in the presence of his lawyer in the interrogations. At first it was not known where Stadler was sitting. On Tuesday morning then reported the “Image” , the Audi boss was taken after his arrest in the prison Augsburg. He was in a solitary cell and was not allowed to use the telephone or the Internet. There is no time limit for pre-trial detention, but the public prosecutor’s office has to work more expeditiously in detention matters. After six months, the Higher Regional Court must in any case examine whether further imprisonment is still justified.