The supervisory boards of Audi and Volkswagen have appointed Sales Director Bram sheet as interim chief. He will take over post of now temporarily leaved Rupert Stadler, companies shared.

Stadler was arrested on Monday. In course of exhaust gas scandal, he is accused of having known about manipulations of exhaust system of Audi models. Stadler sits in custody in Augsburg.

The native Dutch Bean had only come to Audi in September 2017. He will be 57 years old in July. Prior to his work in Ingolstadt, he was sales manager for VW commercial vehicle division. Until 2011, he worked for Mercedes-Benz Italia.

Business experts do not expect that sheet will remain Audi's boss in long term. How long interim phase lasts is as open as question of how long Stadler must remain in prison. According to Munich Prosecutor's office, Audi boss is to be heard at latest on Wednesday and wants to testify. "The delivery will be made temporarily until facts that led to his arrest have been clarified," said Audi.

Stadler has been at top of Audi since 2007. He has been given a sluggish reworking of scandal internally, even though Audi is considered starting point for exhaust gas fraud in Volkswagen Group. The manager has always rejected accusations.

Stadler's phone calls bugged

On Monday morning, 55-year-old was surprisingly arrested for suspicion of fraud and blackout. The investigators had found evidence in ir searches a week ago that Stadler might be able to influence evidence, or suspects or witnesses.

According to South German newspaper, investigators attacked because Stadler led a phone call that apparently burdened him. He had a chat with one or more Audi colleagues in a way that suggests that he wanted to darken – so cover up scale of scandal. The newspaper refers to information from written arrest warrant. In case of an urgent suspicion that evidence is destroyed or put aside, it can be ordered in prison. It is possible and usual to listen to telephone calls at such suspicions. The newspaper also cites parties to proceedings, but content of Stadler's telephone call can also be understood in a very different way.

The Munich Public Prosecutor's Office is not only investigating Stadler in diesel scandal, but also against anor Audi board of directors, in particular not mentioned. In Munich, a former Porsche Development Board is also in custody, which was formerly engine developer at Audi.

Date Of Update: 20 June 2018, 12:02