VW America Boss Is Gone

Michael Horn (Credit: Volkswagen )

According to Automotive News, Michael Horn, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, is gone. Supposedly his departure is “by mutual agreement” and an interim CEO has been named. This is bad news for dealers, because Horn was a known champion for them.

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The dealer council for VW wasn’t pleased with this development and took the opportunity to point out that the automaker is completely mismanaging the whole Dieselgate scandal. It thinks that Horn leaving actually puts VW at a big risk of government prosecution.

Reuters also recently ran a story about CARB’s involvement in Dieselgate. Todd Sax, chief of CARB’s enforcement division was interviewed, and he thinks there isn’t a full fix that would make the scandal TDIs compliant with California’s emissions standards. That could mean a half-measure approach to the problem, which is better for VW than being forced to buy back all of the vehicles.

Sax also brought up that if VW isn’t willing to play ball on a solution, California is ready to sue.

Even if California goes even a little soft on Volkswagen, the fallout from Dieselgate will likely continue for years. The big question is just how much damage VW’s image and sales will take. Autoevolution has even wondered if actors who are appearing in a new set of Volkswagen commercials will suffer at least some for being associated with the brand.

Sadly, as another Reuters report noted, the end effect will be that factory workers will get the ax as Volkswagen continues making poor decisions. The little guys are getting screwed for decisions made far higher up in the hierarchy.

Things aren’t bad for Volkswagen just in the United States. The New York Times says prosecutors in Germany are looking into 17 suspects for the Dieselgate scandal, but no names have been released. Supposedly the government says no members of top management are being targeted, but that could change. This comes after Volkswagen finally admitted Martin Winterkorn, the former CEO, knew about the emissions cheating scheme back in mid-2014.

What this all boils down to is Volkswagen is finding itself in a worsening position almost by the day at this point. It could be an ugly, ugly ride for the next few years.