POAHY Porsche Automobile Holding SE (PK)

FRANKFURT—Key directors at Volkswagen AG met late into Wednesday night to review initial findings of an internal investigation into emissions-rigging at the car maker, as ramifications of the scandal began hitting operations.

The company's financing unit instituted a hiring freeze in response to the crisis that has shaken the Volkswagen group, a unit spokesman said, to let the company weigh the aftereffects.

"We have put a hiring freeze in place until year-end as a precautionary measure," a spokesman for Volkswagen Financial Services AG said. The company, which acts as a lender for buyers and dealers of Volkswagen brands, also won't extend contracts for temporary workers.

Separately, a spokeswoman for the Volkswagen engine-production plant in Salzgitter, Germany, said the company cut a Saturday shift in response to developments, also as a precautionary measure.

The announcements came as Volkswagen officials gathered Wednesday in Wolfsburg, where they reviewed the first results of an investigation into the company's apparent attempts to dodge U.S. emissions tests, according to a person familiar with the matter. The officials include important shareholders and labor representatives who belong to Volkswagen's supervisory board.

U.S. environmental authorities said on Sept. 18 that Europe's largest car manufacturer intentionally installed software in some cars that allowed the vehicles to perform better in emissions tests than they would on the road. Volkswagen has since said the software is installed in about 11 million vehicles world-wide, but may not be activated in all of them.

Volkswagen has vowed to get to the bottom of the matter. Top executives denied knowledge of the test-rigging software. The company initiated an internal investigation and hired an outside law firm to help. Since then, former chief executive Martin Winterkorn has stepped down, and been replaced with Matthias Mü ller, previously CEO at Porsche AG. Earlier Wednesday, Porsche appointed its production chief Oliver Blume to the post of CEO. Porsche cars aren't affected by the software scandal, Volkswagen has said.

Volkswagen suspended managers who may have known of the software deceit, including Heinz-Jakob Neusser, head of research and development at Volkswagen.

There also has been speculation that the company's chief financial officer, Hans Dieter Pö tsch , could be forced out, though key shareholders forcefully denied that Wednesday. As yet, Mr. Pö tsch is expected to become head of Volkswagen's supervisory board later this year.

"The Porsche-Piech family stands firmly behind Mr. Pö tsch as chairman of the Volkswagen supervisory board," said a spokesman for Porsche SE, which owns the majority of Volkswagen's voting rights.

Christopher Alessi and Friedrich Geiger contributed to this article.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 30, 2015 20:55 ET (00:55 GMT)

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