Porsche's head of powertrain development arrested

UPDATED: 4/20/18 7:15 am ET - adds details

HAMBURG -- German police have arrested Porsche's powertrain development chief, Joerg Kerner, in connection with parent Volkswagen Group's sweeping diesel emissions violations, sources said.

Kerner is being held on remand as he is seen as a flight risk, the sources said.

German daily Bild am Sonntag, citing an internal memo from Porsche CEO Oliver Blume to employees, said a manager had been arrested.

Earlier this week German prosecutors searched around 10 premises in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg as part of inquiries into emissions manipulations.

They said they were investigating three suspects, including a management board member, a member of Porsche's higher management and a suspect who is no longer employed at Porsche. No names were released.

Kerner, who is now in custody, joined Audi from Robert Bosch in 2004. He built Audi's engine and transmission electronics design, software and functional development division. Audi has been accused of first developing the software that enabled VW to rig up to 11 million diesel engines to hide high emissions.

Kerner is regarded as a confidant of former Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Mueller, who served as Porsche CEO before taking the top post at VW.

Kerner also worked closely with VW Group's former top engineer Wolfgang Hatz, who was arrested last year.

The management board member under investigation is research and development chief Michael Steiner, the Sueddeutsche newspaper reported Friday.

Porsche declined to comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.