Finland Times

     Winterkorn made the announcement in a statement published on the website of the company.

     Winterkorn said he accepted responsibility for the "irregularities" that had been found in diesel engines and have requested the Supervisory Board to agree to his resignation as CEO the the VW Group.

     "I am doing this in the interests of the company even though I am not aware of any wrong doing on my part."

     "The process of clarification and transparency must continue. This is the only way to win back trust. I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis," said the statement.

     The Executive Committee of Volkswagen AG's Supervisory Board said in a statement published on its website that it has great respect for Winterkorn's offer to resign his position and to ask that his employment agreement be terminated.

     Recommendations for new personnel will be presented at the upcoming meeting of the Supervisory Board this Friday, it said.

     While paying tribute to Winterkorn's "invaluable contributions" to Volkswagen, the Executive Committee said in the statement that Winterkorn had no knowledge of the manipulation of emissions data.

     They expect further personnel consequences in the next few days. "The internal Group investigations are continuing at a high tempo."

     With regard to the emissions cheating accusations, the Executive Committee said it takes this matter extremely seriously.

     "The Executive Committee recognizes not only the economic damage caused, but also the loss of trust among many customers worldwide," said the committee.

     According to the statement, the "incidents" need to be clarified with great conviction and "mistakes are corrected".

     Under mounting pressure, Winterkorn earlier said he was sorry for the emissions cheating issue but refused to step down as the chief of VW Group.

     Winterkorn, 68, joined AUDI AG as an assistant to the Member of the Board for Quality Assurance, according to an introduction on VW's webpages. He became Chairman of the Board of Management of VW AG on Jan. 1, 2007. He was responsible for the Group Research and Development in the company.

     In a showdown with Winterkorn, Ferdinand Piech resigned as Chairman of VW Supervisory Board in April. A six-member panel of the steering committee of the Supervisory Board said the trust with Piech was gone. Local analysts said the contract of Winterkorn, which expires in 2016, could be extended.