VW board to decide on new HR chief at Friday meeting

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VW could make change at CEO by end of week as part of management reshuffle

Without citing its sources, Spiegel said Karlheinz Blessing, who was appointed management board member with responsibility for human resources on January 1, 2016, would be replaced by Gunnar Kilian, secretary general of VW's works council.

In a statement released today, the company said only that it was considering "personnel changes in the board of management [which] could also include a change in the position of the chairman of the board of management".

Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch is now in talks about changing the structure with fellow supervisory board members and members of the management board, Volkswagen said.

Both Bloomberg and "Handelsblatt" are reporting that current VW brand chief Herbert Diess is to replace Mueller. The company also makes cars under the Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini brands.

Mr Diess, 59, has been prepared for the role after being headhunted from BMW in 2015 less than three months before the revelation that VW had fitted 11 million diesel cars worldwide with "defeat device" software created to cheat official emissions tests.

Shares in Volkswagen jumped on the news, and closed up 4.5 percent at 171.58 euros.

Muenster Restaurant Attack: German police to investigate motive for fatal van attack
Police quickly evacuated the area and ambulances, firefighters and helicopters rushed to the scene to aid those who were injured. It happened as people were eating outside a restaurant in the city's historic centre just before 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

Further details are emerging over an expected management shake-up at German vehicle giant Volkswagen AG, ahead of a supervisory board meeting expected on Friday.

Diess, 59, has focused his reforms at the VW brand on procurement and process management to bring its cost structure and efficiency closer to that of rival Toyota 7203.T , but stopped short of making sweeping job cuts. Since admitting to the scandal, VW has paid out nearly €25 billion in fines, compensation, recalls and refits.

The debate about Volkswagen's future structure comes a month after its largest shareholder, Porsche Automobil Holding, picked three new representatives of the Porsche and Piech families to help oversee Volkswagen.

Matthias Müller is likely to be replaced as chief executive of Volkswagen as the carmaker struggles to move on from the diesel emissions scandal that claimed the scalp of his predecessor.

The company said in its statement on Tuesday that it was considering changes to its complicated management structure.

VW and the works council declined comment.