HAMBURG/BRUSSELS — Volkswagen design chief Walter Maria de Silva has quit, two sources familiar with the matter said Friday, adding to the list of top executives to leave the carmaker since it admitted in September to cheating diesel emissions tests.
The sources gave no reason for the resignation, which was first reported by Auto Motor und Sport magazine. Volkswagen declined to comment and de Silva could not immediately be reached for comment.
Italian-born de Silva, 64, has been chief designer at the German company since 2007, with responsibility for all the group’s brands which include VW, Audi, Seat and Porsche.
Europe’s biggest carmaker has already seen the resignation of longtime CEO Martin Winterkorn and Winfried Vahland, whom it had lined up to lead its North American operations, since it admitted on Sept. 18 it had rigged U.S. tests for nitrogen oxide emissions.
The scandal has since deepened, with the firm saying Tuesday it also understated the fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of about 800,000 vehicles.
That has heaped criticism on the company from lawmakers, regulators, investors and customers, who are frustrated at the time it is taking to get to the bottom of a crisis that has wiped nearly a third off VW’s market value.
“Volkswagen is so far not handling the scandal correctly,” Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board which is investigating VW in the United States, said in an interview with German weekly magazine Wirtschafts Woche.
“Every additional gram of nitrogen oxide increase the health risks for our citizens. Volkswagen has not acknowledged that in any way or made any effort to really solve the problem,” she was quoted as saying.
The case is “the biggest direct breach of laws that I have ever uncovered. … This is a serious issue, which will certainly lead to very high penalties,” she added.
EU urged to act
Auto Motor und Sport magazine said de Silva, who won Germany’s highest official design prize in 2010 for the Audi A5, would leave at the end of November and it was unclear who would replace him.
German business daily Handelsblatt earlier on Friday cited company sources as saying that VW planned to cut costs in de Silva’s department, which spends around 100 million euros ($108 million) per year.
New CEO Matthias Mueller has said VW will have to make “massive cutbacks” to recover from its problems.
Some analysts have said it could face a bill as high as 35 billion euros for regulatory fines, lawsuits and vehicle refits.
The scandal has also piled pressure on European regulators, who have long been criticized by environmentalists because on-road tests have consistently shown vehicles emitting more pollutants than official laboratory tests.
In an open letter Friday, a group of leading investors urged the EU to toughen up vehicle testing.
But Brussels faces a battle, as carmakers have traditionally had a strong influence on policy in countries such as Germany, where they are a major source of jobs and export income.
The Commission sent a letter to all 28 EU member countries Thursday urging them to widen their investigations into potential breaches of vehicle emissions.
Vehicle testing in the EU is overseen by national authorities, so the Commission is reliant on each country to enforce rules.
“Public trust is at stake. We need all the facts on the table and rigorous enforcement of existing legislation,” a Commission spokeswoman said.