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Volkswagen reportedly to name Matthias Muller CEO

Porsche chief executive officer Matthias Muller is expected to be named CEO of Volkswagen AG, the Wall Street Journal and other sources reported Thursday morning. Muller, 62, has led Porsche since Oct. 1, 2010, and jumpstarted the sports-car brand's expansion around the world. He replaces Martin Winkerkorn, who stepped down Wednesday amid the company's worsening diesel scandal. At least three more executives are also expected to be fired, including Volkswagen's US chief and the heads of Audi and Porsche research and development. Both brands are divisions of VW. A US spokesman wouldn't confirm the reports. An official announcement is expected at VW's board meeting on Friday. Muller's ascension caps a stunning week of turmoil for Volkswagen, which manipulated software to make its diesel-powered vehicles appear cleaner during testing that they are in real-world driving. The charges were revealed last week by the EPA, which cited the work of researchers at West Virginia University. About 482,000 vehicles are affected in the United States, which will be subject to recall, and VW estimates about 11 million of its vehicles around the world have the rigged software. The well-regarded Muller was viewed as a front-runner for the job even before Winterkorn stepped down. Before helming Porsche, he oversaw all vehicle projects globally for VW from 2007-2010. Previously, he was in charge of the Audi and Lamborghini product lines, and earlier in his career was responsible for the Audi A3 program in the 1990s. He joined Audi in 1977. He's trained as a toolmaker and studied information technology in Munich. His last name is sometimes spelled Mueller in English. Muller faces immediate challenges as he takes over VW's sprawling 78-year-old industrial empire, including recalls and regulatory actions around the world. In the US alone, the company faces a fine of up to $18 billion. VW, an industrial symbol of Germany, is also far larger than any unit Muller has run in his career. While Porsche sold 189,849 vehicles in 2014 globally, it's one of many VW brands. Collectively they sold 5.04 million vehicles through the first six months of this year, making Volkswagen the world's largest automaker. Related Video:

Audi and Mercedes both outsell BMW in January

There won't be any celebrations in Munich this month, as BMW was outsold by arch-nemeses Audi and Mercedes-Benz. The Bavarian company finished behind Audi in January, which took the top spot for the first time since June of last year, Bloomberg reports. Ingolstadt rode high on a 10-percent bump in sales, while Mercedes saw a larger 14 percent increase. BMW, meanwhile, only saw a modest 6.3-percent sales increase last month, thanks in large part to its struggles in China. The company's sales there increased at about half the rate of its chief competitors, with a 7.9-percent jump to Mercedes and Audi's roughly 15-percent increases. Perhaps more worrying for BMW, though, is that this could become something of a trend for the company. According to Bloomberg, issues with Chinese dealers who cancelled orders over sales targets and bonuses combined with what the publication calls aging models, could spell bad news for the German marque. "This looks like a pretty significant decline in growth compared to Mercedes and Audi," Bankhaus Metzler analyst Juergen Pieper told Bloomberg. "I think this will continue during the next few months." News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Matthias Schrader / AP Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz

Win an electric car and celebrate Earth Day

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability is subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. Enter to win this giveaway or any other Omaze experience now through April 23, 2021 and receive 500 extra entries into any campaign plus a chance to win $10K with code GOGREEN500. Simply add the discount at checkout. Whether you like it or not, there will come a day when most, if not all of us, will be driving electric cars. For some of us that day can't come soon enough, and in honor of Earth Day we've put together a list of our favorite car giveaways so you can save some green while being green.  Win a 2021 Porsche Taycan Turbo S and $20,000 - Enter Here If there’s one thing Porsche is good at, itÂ’s making fast, beautiful cars, and the Taycan Turbo S is no exception. Making 750 horsepower, 774 lb-ft of torque and a top speed of 161 miles per hour, punching the accelerator will surely throw you back in your seat. In fact, its 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds matches that of the quickest Porsche 911 ever made, the Turbo S. The difference between this Taycan Turbo S and that 911 Turbo S, of course, is that the only reason youÂ’ll ever need to stop off at a gas station is to fill up on snacks. That and the fact the Taycan doesn't actually have a turbo anywhere in the car. We wouldnÂ’t be reaching for a bag of FlaminÂ’ Hot Cheetos, though, because this incredibly comfortable leather interior is immaculate, and weÂ’d hope to keep it that way. Enter here for a chance to win this prize worth $220,000. Win a Himalaya Land Rover Defender 110 EV and $20,000 - Enter Here The Land Rover Defender is an icon: an intense, luxurious off-roader that turns heads and can crawl up nearly anything. The problem? For the past 20+ years it hasn't been available in the United States and it's never been what youÂ’d call environmentally friendly. But this Defender is different. ItÂ’s vintage, restored by Himalaya and itÂ’s all-electric. At 275 horsepower, you wonÂ’t be thrown back in your seat, but the 406 lb-ft of torque helps make this an incredibly capable rock crawler.