Volkswagen hires compliance manager Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt from rival Daimler to help clean up emissions scandal

Volkswagen has today hired a new director of integrity and legal affairs in a bid to recover from its emissions scandal.

Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt is joining from rival Daimler, where she held the same position.She will pick up the newly-created role at VW on 1 January. 

Daimler has agreed to release Hohmann-Dennhardt from her contract early after a VW  put a special request in, a move the troubled car giant said was "in the interest of good governance in the German automotive industry."

Read more: Volkswagen emissions scandal: Are VW shares untouchable?

Prior to joining Daimler, Hohmann-Dennhardt was a judge at the country's federal court and she also served as minister of justice in the German province of Hesse.

However she will have her work cut out when she joins the firm, which has taken hits to its reputation and share price in the last month.  

VW's share price has fallen nearly 30 per cent since the emissions cheating scandal first emerged, when US authorities ordered the German manufacturer to recall nearly half a million cars, claiming they had been fitted with a "defeat device".

Since then, chief executive Martin Winterkorn has (reluctantly) resigned and the firm has admitted as many as 11m cars worldwide could be affected. A poll taken after the scandal erupted showed that VW was the worst-perceived car brand in the UK.