The German carmaker said it has accepted the proposal by Steg to assume full responsibility for the experiments that were revealed by the New York Times last week and have since been condemned by politicians and animal rights activists.

Jens Hanefeld, responsible for international and European political issues at VW, will replace Steg on an acting basis, VW said.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Arno Schuetze)