The violations of these diesel motors by our company go against everything that Volkswagen stands for... at this time, I don't yet have the answers to all the questions. I'm utterly sorry that we have damaged trust in this way. I offer my deepest apologies to our customers, the authorities, and to the public at large for our misconduct.

Volkswagen has been, is, and will always be my life.

We procrastinated in the U.S., it's true. And we are changing that.

As CEO, I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the Supervisory Board to agree on terminating my function as CEO of the Volkswagen Group.

Taking the third step before the first would be fatal.

People who, like me, grew up in the 1950s and 1960s after World War II, grew up with cars.

2008 was a good - a very successful year for Volkswagen.

We want to be the volume number one, but also we want to have 8 percent in operating profit.

The European auto industry made a commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 140 grams per kilometer. But then there was a significant change in what customers wanted in their vehicles.

The hybrid engine costs a lot of money, and customers are hardly willing to spend so much more for a car.