(September 25, 2015) WOLFSBURG, Germany — Matthias Müller, 62, has been appointed CEO of Volkswagen effectively immediately, VW announced today. The decision was made by the Supervisory Board at its meeting in Wolfsburg. Müller is currently chairman of Porsche AG in Stuttgart. He will continue in this function until a successor has been found.

The interim Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, Berthold Huber, said: "Matthias Müller is a person of great strategic, entrepreneurial and social competence. He knows the group and its brands well and can immediately engage in his new task with full energy. We expressly value his critical and constructive approach."

Michael Horn, strongly defended by VW’s U.S. dealers on Thursday, will remain head of Volkswagen in the United States, VW said in a statement.

Mueller is a company veteran who worked as VW's head product strategist until 2010 when he was asked to lead Porsche. Under Mueller's leadership VW must regain the trust of consumers and regulators after admitting to cheating on diesel emissions tests in the U.S.

"My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group — by leaving no stone unturned and with maximum transparency, as well as drawing the right conclusions from the current situation," Müller said.

"Under my leadership, Volkswagen will do everything it can to develop and implement the most stringent compliance and governance standards in our industry. If we manage to achieve that then the Volkswagen Group with its innovative strength, its strong brands and above all its competent and highly motivated team has the opportunity to emerge from this crisis stronger than before."

Müller moved to Wolfsburg as head of Product Management of the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen brand in 2007 and also became a general representative of the Volkswagen Group. He has been chairman of the Executive Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and a member of the Executive Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE since 2010. In his function as chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche, Müller was appointed member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG effective March 1, 2015.

Müller's current contract as a board member of Volkswagen AG will continue to apply in his new function as CEO. This contract runs until the end of February 2020. Matthias Müller succeeds Martin Winterkorn, who offered his resignation on Wednesday.