Frankfurt - Volkswagen’s (VW) attempts to contain the fallout from the emissions
cheating suffered a setback after Audi, the group’s biggest profit
center, lost a key engineer tainted by the scandal.
Development chief Stefan Knirsch left the manufacturer with immediate effect this week after a probe showed he was aware of the manipulation when he took the job less than 10 months ago.
A company veteran who started in Audi’s engine design unit in 1990, Knirsch was picked by Audi Chief Rupert Stadler to succeed Ulrich Hackenberg, who was pushed out in the first round of management purges after the scandal broke a year ago. Now Stadler himself has come under increased scrutiny as investigators seek to untangle the origins of the scandal.
