In one of the more inevitable developments in modern business history, Martin Winterkorn, the head of Volkswagen, resigned on Wednesday.
“I am shocked by the events of the past few days,” he said in a statement. “Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group.”
Winterkorn was of course referring to the mega-scandal that has engulfed Volkswagen in the past week, ever since the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that the company had committed massive industrial and environmental fraud.
His shock must be taken with a huge grain of salt. Volkswagen had installed software in millions of its diesel cars that ensured that the cars could fool environmental regulatory tests. When the cars were actually driven on the road, the software shut down the pollution controls that had been in place during the tests, and the cars then emitted up to 40 times the amount of pollution allowed in the United States. Air pollution is causing immense harm to our health and that of the earth, but Volkswagen apparently didn’t care. If Winterkorn didn’t know this was happening, he would have been the most out-of-touch CEO in corporate history.