Porsche CEO expected to take over Volkswagen

Porsche CEO Matthias Müller is expected to take over Volkswagen as the company tries to recover from scandal after revelations it has been circumventing U.S. air pollution rules for years, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Müller is expected to take over for Martin Winterkorn, who resigned as CEO after the scandal became public last week. 

Winterkorn and Volkswagen’s U.S. CEO, Michael Horn, stepped down after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused the German automaker of selling about 482,000 vehicles since 2008 that violate the Clean Air Act due to software installed on the vehicles that activates required air pollution protections only during emissions tests.  

{mosads} Müller has been leading Porsche, a luxury subdivision of Volkswagen, since 2010. 

Prior to joining the Volkswagen corporation in 2007, Müller worked at German automaker Audi. 

Volkswagen has been embroiled in scandal since the EPA revealed last Friday that the company programmed vehicles to trick emissions testers into believing that its diesel cars released much less nitrogen oxide than they actually do.

A “defeat device” in the vehicles made it so that they would pass emissions tests. But in regular driving, they emitted up to 40 times more pollution.

Volkswagen has admitted to using the devices.

The EPA says Volkswagen could face up to an $18 billion fine for its violations. 

Timothy Cama contributed to this report.