Audi boss Rupert Stadler to be questioned over dieselgate

Audi boss Rupert Stadler is to be questioned by officials from US law firm Jones Day as part of on-going internal investigations into the Volkswagen Group’s diesel emission test manipulation.

The questioning of Stadler, who has been the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Audi since January 2010, is said to come after earlier witnesses implicated the 53-year-old German in the so-called dieselgate scandal.

According to German media reports, the Volkswagen Group supervisory board ordered Stadler be brought before Jones Day officials leading the internal investigation following claims he first gained knowledge of the software used to manipulate emission tests for the company’s 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine shortly after being made Audi chairman in 2010.

Until now, Stadler has steadfastly denied he knew of the measures used by Audi engineers to manipulate the emissions of the widely used V6 diesel, which is employed in various Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen models.

The questioning is planned to extend for “a number of hours” according to Volkswagen Group sources.

An Audi spokesman contacted by Autocar refused to comment on developments surrounding Stadler.

News of the questioning of Stadler by Jones Day follows the suspension from duties of Audi’s research and development boss, Stefan Knirsch, following an Audi supervisory board meeting in Ingolstadt on Friday 16 September.