FRANKFURT — A top executive at Volkswagen’s Porsche unit was among those targeted when dozens of police officers raided the sports car maker’s headquarters on Wednesday as part of an investigation into emissions cheating, German prosecutors said.

The raid at Porsche’s offices in Stuttgart and searches at several other locations, including the Ingolstadt offices of the carmaker’s sibling company Audi, created new challenges for Volkswagen as it struggles to move past a diesel-emissions scandal that began in 2015.

Sports cars and luxury sports utility vehicles made by Porsche, which had been relatively unscathed by the scandal so far, account for a disproportionate share of Volkswagen’s profits. Any harm to Porsche’s reputation could have significant financial consequences for its parent company.

The raids will also test whether Herbert Diess, Volkswagen’s newly appointed chief executive, will be more aggressive than his predecessor, Matthias Müller, in clearing out managers who took part in a widespread conspiracy to conceal excess diesel emissions from regulators in the United States and Europe.