When your parent company actively engages in emissions cheating, there will be far reaching consequences for all of its brands. Audi is fully aware of this. After all, it played a big role in Volkswagen Group’s diesel offerings, until it all came crashing down a couple of years ago. And the after affects are still being felt today. Reuters reports that current Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said earlier this month that, following an additional recall for 60,000 cars, the luxury brand is still not in the clear.
“We are still running into issues that we report immediately to regulators,” he said. “The diesel crisis hasn’t yet ended.” For Stadler, this is also personal. The CEO asked workers to ignore media reports claiming his exit is imminent. Apparently Volkswagen wants to force out people who were in leadership positions when the scandal broke, and Stadler has been at the helm of Audi since 2010. Point being is the guy has a cloudy history as far as VW management is concerned. However, Stadler has no intention of going anywhere. “I feel responsibility, and as long as I have the full support of the supervisory board and management, I accept this responsibility to solve the problem and lead the company into the future.”
Stadler was obviously questioned by investigating authorities regarding what he possibly knew (or didn’t) regarding what became Dieselgate, but has since been cleared of wrongdoing. Today, he wants to steer the ship clear before eventually retiring. While more recalls regarding diesel-engined Audis are likely and expected even by Stadler himself, the guy clearly wants to fix what’s been wronged. At the same, he wants to set Audi on the right path towards electrification. Only a few days ago, we learned the brand is preparing a new electric supercar equipped with solid-state batteries. Before that model arrives, the e-tron GT, a direct rival to the Tesla Model S, is expected in 2020.
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