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Winterkorn vacates chairs on Audi, Truck & Bus boards

The last remaining vestiges of Martin Winterkorn's power within the Volkswagen Group are slowly melting away. The former chairman of the group's management board resigned as CEO nearly two months ago in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. He held onto other roles within the group, but one by one he's been vacating those as well. Last month Winterkorn resigned from his role at Porsche SE – Volkswagen's largest shareholder. Now the latest development comes from Bloomberg, which reports that Winterkorn has stepped down from his role as chairman of the supervisory board at Audi. Prior to his promotion to run the entire group, Winterkorn served as chief executive of the Audi division, and prior to his resignation served continued to serve as its board chairman. No date was given for his resignation from that capacity, nor any successor named at this point. Repeated requests for clarification from Audi have gone unanswered. In correspondence with Autoblog, however, spokespeople for VW's commercial vehicle operations confirmed that Winterkorn has also stepped down as the chairman of the board at Truck & Bus GmbH. The newly established division encompasses truck manufacturers Man and Scania. Winterkorn also served as chairman of Scania's board, but requests for confirmation of his departure from that role also went unanswered. The Swedish truck manufacturer, however, named Henrik Henriksson as its a new chief executive only a few days ago.

Angry diesel owners joining lawsuits against Volkswagen [w/video]

Livid at the prospect of losing thousands of dollars from the value of their cars and performance from their diesel engines, many owners of Volkswagens are headed to court. A law firm with a track record of suing automakers has already filed three class-action lawsuits against the German automaker related to its emissions-cheating scandal and says a fourth one is on the way. The lawsuits, filed by national firm Hagens Berman, accuse Volkswagen Group of America of fraudulent concealment, false advertising, and violations of federal and state laws. Plaintiffs in all 50 states have joined the class-action suits, according to the firm. A spokesperson says there has been "an unprecedented response" since the first lawsuit was filed within hours of an announcement from federal regulators last Friday. The lawsuits accuse Volkswagen Group of America of fraudulent concealment, false advertising, and violations of federal and state laws. Diesel owners paid thousands more for their vehicles instead of their gasoline-powered counterparts because Volkswagen's diesel engines ostensibly offered both torque and fuel economy. Now affected car owners are faced with a double-whammy – the value of their cars has diminished with the news and the purported software fix that brings the cars in emissions compliance will likely lower their performance and gas mileage. "Hundreds of thousands of consumers put their trust in VW when they looked to its 'Clean Diesel' line for an efficient, environmentally conscious diesel option," said Steve Berman, managing partner. "But for years, VW cheated the system. Its TDI line of fast but 'good-for-the-environment' cars seemed too good to be true, and they were." In its latest court filing, Hagens Berman lawyers said that car owners believed their vehicles were in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards and that the cars would retain their operating characteristics throughout their useful lives. Another firm, Girard Gibbs, has also filed a lawsuit over the diesel deception. "These Volkswagen vehicles should never have been sold, and certainly should not have spent the past six years on American roads polluting our air," said Eric Gibbs, the lead attorney. "Not only does this kind of fraud harm consumers and the environment, it negatively impacts competition, which is what drives our free-market system.

2023 New York Auto Show Live Updates: Hyundai's surprise, Nissan's super stand, '24 Wrangler

The 2023 New York International Auto Show shifts into high gear Wednesday, April 5, and our reporters are already in the city, with events unfolding even as we speak. We'll being seeing cars in person, interviewing automaker insiders and snapping photos of vehicles and all the other oddities that pop up at an event like this and we'll be giving you live updates and color from the show floor along the way.  Ram, Hyundai, Subaru, Kia, VW and Jeep are all expected to show something new this week, and other automakers are known to be hosting off-site events that may produce news — expected or otherwise. Genesis has already revealed its GV80 Coupe, for example, along with the fact that it has been confirmed as a production model. And we're just getting started.  Read on below for our observations from the show floor and points beyond: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.     Green New York Auto Show Genesis Hyundai Jeep Kia RAM Subaru Volkswagen Concept Cars Electric Future Vehicles