Winterkorn resigns as Volkswagen CEO

Volkswagen has now been charged by EPA for evading the air pollution control rules.  And now it's taking its toll with the VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.

During last week, the German automaker has been proven of installing the 'defeat device' to its four-cylinder diesel cars.  The said software has the ability to detect if the car was undergoing emissions testing and turn on all of the emissions control systems, enabling it to pass the EPA's test.   

In normal driving, the systems would turn off, providing the car greater fuel efficiency and performance while increasing the Nitrogen Oxide pollution up to 40 times, Mashable reported.

Because of the violation Volkswagen did with the Clean Air Act, it is now facing a huge fine and criminal charges. 

The presence of the cheating software was discovered in 482,000 U.S. market cars, but the car company announced Tuesday that it was used in 11 million cars sold around the world.  Others models included are from Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, and Seat.

Winterkorn was very much apologetic in his statement, according to Die Welt.

"We're clarifying, I give you my word in all of this, we will proceed with all the necessary transparency and openness. We will do everything to regain your confidence, step by step," he said.

But his apologies will not save him from getting fired by the end of the week because of the emissions scandal.  The report is unconfirmed but should be expected.  Winterkorn has to step down and while the whole story won't be probably known for weeks this drama is already looking like a classic in the annals of business and leadership crises, according to a German newspaper report on Tuesday morning.

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn didn't even wait for the end of the week to leave the doors of the auto company.  The now former VW CEO resigned Wednesday, only days after admitting the installment of cheating software on its diesel cars enabling them to evade emissions test, according to Fortune.

He said he accepted responsibility for the scandal, which may affect 11 million cars worldwide, but he wasn't aware of any personal wrongdoing.