FRANKFURT — Martin Winterkorn will resign as chief executive of the company that holds a majority of Volkswagen shares, the holding company said on Saturday, ending his formal influence over the carmaker he ran for eight years until an emissions cheating scandal led him to resign last month.

Even after quitting as chief executive of the carmaker on Sept. 23, Mr. Winterkorn continued to hold the title of chief executive of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which owns more than half of Volkswagen’s voting shares.

As head of the holding company, Mr. Winterkorn may have continued to exert influence behind the scenes at Volkswagen as it tried to cope with the consequences of the scandal. Under pressure from German regulators, Volkswagen said this week that it would recall 8.5 million diesel cars in Europe equipped with software that is intended to cheat on emissions tests.

Mr. Winterkorn, 68, has denied knowing about the illegal software, but many critics have said his autocratic management style and his determination to make Volkswagen the world’s largest automaker may have contributed to the crisis. His resignation will take effect at the end of October, Porsche SE said. The company did not explain why Mr. Winterkorn had not stepped down sooner.