Volkswagen, Audi resume crisis talks after Audi CEO arrest - sources

Hours of negotiations by Volkswagen’s (VW) and Audi’s supervisory boards on Monday failed to reach an agreement on how to respond to news that German authorities had detained Rupert Stadler

Volkswagen bosses were locked in a second day of hastily convened meetings to address a leadership crisis sparked by the arrest of the head of the car maker’s Audi brand, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Hours of negotiations by Volkswagen’s (VW) and Audi’s supervisory boards on Monday failed to reach an agreement on how to respond to news that German authorities had detained Rupert Stadler as part of their investigation into the group’s emissions test cheating scandal.

 The arrest raised fresh questions about whether VW had done enough to reform itself almost three years after it admitted to rigging US emissions tests on diesel engines.

The steering committee of VW’s board of directors, which includes VW Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch and labour leader Bernd Osterloh, kicked off fresh talks over Audi’s leadership on Tuesday, discussing the crisis with Wolfgang Porsche from the Piech-Porsche clan that controls the VW group, two sources said.

 The committee also includes representatives of VW’s home state of Lower Saxony.Stadler has been under fire from the media, politicians and VW’s trade unions