Audi has named Bram Schot as interim chief on Tuesday, replacing CEO Rupert Stadler, who was detained on Monday on fraud charges, in connection with the emisssions-cheating scandal at Audi's parent company Volkswagen. The 56-year-old Netherlands-born manager was previously at the head of Audi's sales and marketing division.

"The supervisory board of Audi AG has decided to transfer the duties of the board of management chairman (chief executive) to Abraham Schot on a temporary basis with immediate effect," the German carmaker said in a statement, adding that it had complied with Stadler's request to be temporarily relieved of his duties.

Stadler had headed Audi for 11 years and was the first senior executive to be detained in the Dieselgate scandal. On Monday, prosecutors in Munich said that Stadler had appeared before the investigating judge, who ordered him to be remanded in custody.

"The arrest warrant is based on concealment of evidence," Munich prosecutors said, adding that Stadler had denied any involvement.

Read more: Opinion: How the German car industry self-destructs

What we know so far:

Prosecutors have said he was detained because he posed a flight risk, according to news agency DPA.

Upon arrest, Stadler appeared before a judge, who ordered him to be kept in custody, pending additional charges.

VW is set to hold a board meeting on Monday to discuss the charges against the Audi executive.

Bram Schot, Audi's current head of sales and marketing, is expected to take over as CEO.

Audi has not commented, except to confirm Stadler's detention.

The Audi probe: Audi has been accused of having sold at least 210,000 diesel-engine cars fitted with cheat software in the US and Europe, starting in 2009. The luxury carmaker is also being investigated for allegations of fraud and illegal product promotion. The investigation is looking into 20 Audi employees.

Stadler under investigation: Munich prosecutorsannounced on June 13 that the Audi CEO and another unnamed board member were now part of the investigation. Authorities then carried out a search of Stradler's home. Stadler has been an Audi board member since 2003 and has held its top managerial spot since 2007, two years prior to the alleged emissions-cheating activities.

Volkswagen's scandal: Volkswagen (VW) admitted in 2015 that it had used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests in diesel engines. Audi followed its parent company's admission two months later. VW has not commented on his alleged involvement, but in its 2017 annual report, the carmaker said that the decision to install illegal "defeat device" software was made by individuals below the management board level in 2006.

Read more: Dieselgate — will class-action lawsuits come to Germans' rescue?

How the scandal has affected Germany: The Dieselgate scandal has prompted a lengthy investigation, heavy fines, profit losses and numerous recalls. Consumer confidence has suffered, with diesel cars seeing a decline in sales. Adding to the industry's woes, a landmark ruling by a German court deemed it permissible for cities and communities to implement bans on old diesel. Hamburg became the first city last month to implement such ban.

Dieselgate: A timeline The disaster unfolds — September 2015 About two weeks after Volkswagen admitted behind closed doors to US environmental regulators that it had installed cheating software in some 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, the Environmental Protection Agency shared that information with the public. It was September 18, 2015. The ensuing crisis would eventually take a few unexpected turns.

Dieselgate: A timeline The boss must go, long live the boss — September 2015 Volkswagen's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn (above) had little choice but to step down several days after news of the scandal broke. In September 2015, he tendered his resignation, but retained his other posts within the Volkswagen Group. Winterkorn's successor was Matthias Müller. Until taking the reins at VW, Müller had been the chairman at Porsche, a VW subsidiary.

Dieselgate: A timeline Raiding headquarters — October 2015 Regulators in the US weren't the only ones investigating VW. Authorities in Lower Saxony, the German state in which VW is based, were also scrutinizing the company. On October 8 2015, state prosecutors raided VW's headquarters along with several other corporate locations.

Dieselgate: A timeline Hell breaks loose — January 2016 On January 4, 2016, the US government filed a lawsuit against VW in Detroit, accusing the German automaker of fraud and violations of American climate protection regulations. The lawsuit sought up to $46 billion for violations of the Clean Air Act.

Dieselgate: A timeline Quit or forced out? — March 2016 In March 2016, the head of VW in the US, Michael Horn, resigned. In the initial days and weeks after the scandal broke, he was the one US authorities turned to for information. He issued an official apology on behalf of the automaker, asking for the public's forgiveness.

Dieselgate: A timeline Settlement — October 2016 On October 25 2016, a US judge approved a final settlement that would have VW pay $15.3 billion. In addition, affected cars would be retrofitted with better, non-deceptive hardware and software, or else VW would buy them back completely from customers.

Dieselgate: A timeline Imitators — July 2017 When dieselgate first emerged in 2015, analysts said it was likely other car makers were also cheating tests. But it wasn't until 2017 that other companies were targeted in probes. In July, German authorities launched investigations into luxury car makers Porsche and Daimler for allegedly cheating emissions tests. Others, such as Audi and Chrysler, have also been hit by similar allegations.

Dieselgate: A timeline Public still supportive — December 2017 Despite dieselgate, VW has managed to keep the emissions scandal from utterly tarnishing its image. According to several polls, between 55 to 67 percent of Germans continue to trust the automaker. In the US, polls show that roughly 50 percent still believe the German company produces worthwhile vehicles.

Dieselgate: A timeline Fuming over monkeys — January 2018 In late January, however, VW suffered another heavy blow over reports that the company experimented on monkeys and made the animals inhale diesel fumes. To make matters worse, a separate experiment that had humans inhale relatively harmless nitrogen dioxide was revealed at the same time. Some media wrongly interpreted this to mean humans were also inhaling toxic fumes.

Dieselgate: A timeline Canadian court demands millions — January 2020 Years after the scandal that caused Volkswagen to pay CAN$2.4 billion (US$1.83 billion), a court in Toronto order a further fine of CAN$196.5 million. Volkswagen pleaded guilty of violating in environmental laws. Prosecutor Tom Lemon noted that the fine was "26 times the highest fine ever for a Canadian environmental offence." Author: Dirk Kaufmann, Elliot Douglas



jcg/kms (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

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