The first and the latest Porsche 911 models, all without diesel engines.
Wolfgang Hatz, 57, the suspended top technical executive at Porsche, is gone in the latest, but by no means last, fallout from the ongoing diesel cheating scandal. The Supervisory Board at Dr. Ing h.c F. Porsche AG appointed Dr Michael Steiner, 51, to the Executive Board as his successor at its meeting today. Steiner is taking over the research and development division immediately.
Hatz has held this position since February 2011. He leaves the sports car manufacturer, allegedly “at his own request.” Steiner held leading positions in the Porsche Development Center in Weissach for 14 years, most recently as Vice President Complete Vehicle Engineering/Quality Management.
At the beginning of the diesel issue in the Volkswagen Group in late September last year, Hatz went on “temporary leave as a precaution,” Porsche said in a statement this morning. “Since then, he has been involved in the investigation, though enquiries have shown no evidence of any co-responsibility by Hatz so far. Nevertheless, he has decided to leave Porsche AG due to the ongoing internal investigations and his resulting prolonged leave of absence.”
