Martin Winterkorn – the CEO of Volkswagen AG->ke94 – has stepped down from his position within the group of companies. His decision comes after a lot of scrutiny for the recent scandal that involved cheating on emissions testing here in the U.S. Winterkorn denies any personal wrongdoing involving the scandal, but says Volkswagen needs a fresh start and claims his resignation will make that possible. Potential successors will be discussed at a supervisory meeting later this week, but potential candidates include Matthias Miller from Porsche->ke1 and Herbert Diess, who recently joined the group after leaving BMW->ke178. Sources indicate that VW is taking further actions in addressing the scandal.

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Why it matters

Before he took the helm, VAG was cutting jobs and falling behind. In his time as CEO, Winterkorn has expanded the number of production to include more than 100 sites around the world and has increased VAG’s workforce to over 500,000 employees. His successor will have some pretty big shoes to fill, but will first be responsible for getting to the bottom of this scandal. So far, it is said that 11 million vehicles were modified to trick emissions regulators here in the U.S. Not good, VW.