Germany's powerful automotive association, ADAC, says its chief has quit in the wake of revelations that the body manipulated a survey on the nation's favourite car.
Peter Meyer, president of ADAC, resigned after the 19-million-member auto club admitted that it had lied about the number of people that took part in its Yellow Angel prize.
The club had inflated the number of survey participants tenfold, saying that more than 34,000 people had voted for the VW Golf as "Germany's Favourite Car", when the true number was only 3,400.
But the ADAC insisted the overall order of the ranking, in which the VW Golf was declared the winner this year, was accurate.
"The ADAC takes note of the resignation of its president Peter Meyer, who is taking responsibility for the various criticisms which have been levelled at the ADAC club in recent weeks," it said in a statement.
Deputy president August Markl will take over in the interim until a successor is named at the ADAC's annual general meeting in May, it added.
The scandal dominated German newspaper front pages on Monday.
Founded in 1903, the ADAC is Europe's biggest automotive club, and its member magazine "ADAC Motorwelt" claims to have Europe's biggest circulation at 13 million.
The club is best known in Germany for its Yellow Angel roadside assistance patrols who rush to the aid of stranded drivers, as well as for its rescue helicopters.
But the Munich-based club is also a major lobby group and a corporate entity that tests vehicle safety and sells commercial services from car rentals and insurance to holidays and long-distance bus services.
When the scandal came to light in January, the editor of the ADAC's magazine and former head of the communications, Michael Ramstetter, 60, claimed responsibility for the dodgy survey and quit.
In its statement, the ADAC praised Meyer's leadership.
"Under his leadership, the ADAC has grown strongly and members and employees have benefited from this over the past years," it said.
But in the wake of the scandal, the club has embarked on a "far-reaching process of reform which doesn't shy away from taboos.
"We want to restore confidence in the club as quickly as possible," said interim chief Markl.
ADAC management has pledged to conduct the Motorwelt readers' survey under the supervision of independent legal observers in future.
