Volkswagen scandal: VW, Porsche R&D head, Audi development chief sacked

Volkswagen Group has now suspended the chief of development at Audi, and the R&D boss at VW and Porsche. After the diesel engine-emission scam broke out on September 18, Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn was the first one to step down. The company's Supervisory Board then met and later said that there were more suspensions on the charts.

The automobile major has now suspended Audi development chief Ulrich Hackenberg, VW brand R&D boss Heinz-Jakob Neusser and Porsche development head Wolfgang Hatz, Reuters has reported.

Hackenberg, a Winterkorn confidante, was responsible for VW brand development from 2007 to 2013, while Hatz ran the group’s engine development from 2007 to 2011, a Automotive News Europe report has said.

The report states that Neusser was the Volkswagen brand's head of development since 2013, and the head of VW Group's powertrain development since 2012. 

ALSO READ: How Volkswagen duped millions of customers, flout stringent US norms

Volkswagen has been found guilty of using 'defect devices' on nearly 11 million diesel-powered cars, which includes 5 million Volkswagen Passenger Cars, and 2.1 million Audi cars.

While the Volkswagen cars using the Type EA 189 diesel engine are the ones that carry the device that lets them cheat on the emission tests, Audi has said that Audis with EU5 engines are the ones that carry the device.