When corporate helmsmen opt to slug it out in the midst of a crisis, certain quarters of the investor fraternity grow cynical about the intentions of staying on and leaving "on a high".
That cannot be said of German automotives group Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VLKAY) whose US chief executive officer Michael Horn quit Europe's biggest carmaker on Thursday. North American regional chief Hinrich Woebcken replaces Horn on an interim basis.
That a crisis the dimensions of which were never seen among any major car makers has existed and prevails is not in doubt. It was six months ago that the automaker's diesel emissions cheating scandal went public. And it came to light in the United States first, where investigators began their probe as far back as May 2014 - more than a year before the scandal made headlines.
What is more, VW admits that its then overall group CEO Martin Winterkorn was informed on 23 May 2014 the company might face an emissions probe from US authorities. The car maker, however, defends this claiming that Winterkorn may not actually have read his memorandum and therefore may, in the final analysis, have been ignorant to the emissions developments that far back.
But what of Horn, the man departing today? He has not taken any glory with him, and some might view him as the fall guy - or at very least one chieftain who was uncomfortably candid about the scandal.
In his most recent job for just two years - most of it eclipsed by the emissions scandal - Horn's departure was with immediate effect.
VW did not elaborate on his departure except to say he was "pursuing other opportunities". A terse tribute to a 25-year career VW official who had the unenviable task of cleaning up the mess the scandal caused when the company admitted in September that 600,000 cars were sold in the US with software designed to cheat emissions tests. Globally, that figure is around 11mln. VW has said that the EA 189 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0-litre pre-Euro 6 diesel engines have been identified as containing the defective software at the centre of the crisis.
Horn admitted when the scandal broke that VW had been "dishonest", adding "we totally screwed up".
VW is negotiating with regulators over the terms of a fix for the vehicles affected while it also faces further bills from legal action.
Already a civil case by the US Department of Justice could run parrallel to state and federal regulators who continue their investogations, and in a third lane VW might face a multiple car pile up of private class-action suits.
Horn maintains he first learned VW's diesel cars had issues with dirty emissions in 2014 but insisted he was unaware of the cheating software until a day before the scheme was publicly revealed last September.
Motoring analysts might, however, better remember him for his colourful admissions of failure by VW and therefore that may offer a quicker road to Sainthood for him.
That is because while Horn was candid about the crisis, it may have been a view out of synch with HQ in Europe. Nevertheless, with a trio of headaches now facing VW - compensation demands, recalls to tune the vehicles and declining sales - Horn may be sounding his corporate klaxon the hardest as he considers his future career path.
Volkswagen ADRs were down 2.21% at $28.03 in New York.
In the market at large, which was broadly lower, there were some outperformers too.
RISERS
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FALLERS
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Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) shares fell 5.8% to $16.64 after the microblogging site was reported to be improving its compensation structure in an effort to stem key talent from leaving the company. Twitter is offering additional restricted stock to workers throughout the company.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO) shares edged 0.05% lower to $93.01 after the credit rating agency and California public pension system Calpers reached a $130mln settlement in a case involving allegedly inflated grades by Moody's for residential mortgage deals that later went sour in the 2008 financial crisis. Standard & Poor's reached a similar settlement with Calpers a year ago.