VW CEO is out

Martin Winterkorn has stepped down as CEO of Volkswagen.

VW has been engulfed by an emissions-cheating scandal that it says has affected 11 million vehicles worldwide.

Winterkorn and VW released a statement:

I am shocked by the events of the past few days. Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group.

As CEO I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the Supervisory Board to agree on terminating my function as CEO of the Volkswagen Group.

I am doing this in the interests of the company even though I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part.

Volkswagen needs a fresh start - also in terms of personnel. I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation.

I have always been driven by my desire to serve this company, especially our customers and employees. Volkswagen has been, is and will always be my life.

The process of clarification and transparency must continue. This is the only way to win back trust. I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis.

On Tuesday, German media reported that Winterkorn had quit and that he would be replaced by Porsche CEO Matthias Müller.

Winterkorn contradicted that report later Tuesday in a video posted to the company's website. But by midweek it became clear that Winterkorn might not make it to a scheduled Friday meeting of VW's supervisory board.

No successor to Winterkorn has been named.

The fate of the company, which has shed billions in market cap since it was revealed last week that it had cheated on US emissions tests, now rests in the hands of the VW Group board.

The board is made up of VW Group executives, members of the Porsche family, representatives of the German state of Lower Saxony, where VW is headquartered, and the union that represents VW's workers.

Last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency revealed that VW had installed "defeat device" software on nearly 500,000 VW and Audi vehicles equipped with a 2.0-liter TDI diesel engine. The software switched on full emission-control systems when the cars were being tested but switched it off during normal operation. This enabled VW to mask emissions of nitrogen oxide that exceeded the standards by up to 40 times.

Volkswagen swiftly admitted guilt and said millions of additional cars were affected globally.

Winterkorn recently survived a management crisis at VW that saw the departure of VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch. Winterkorn and Piëch were allies but had become rivals. Before the emissions-cheating scandal hit, it was expected that the VW board would meet this week to extend Winterkorn's contract through 2018.

VW stock was up 6% in trading on Wednesday, to 113 euros per share.

This is breaking, we'll update as we learn more.