"At no time was it my intention for this statement to be placed in a false context. At the time, I simply did not think of this possibility."
The phrase Arbeit Macht Frei - "work makes you free" - appeared on the gates of many concentration camps and has become inseperable from the Third Reich, though the Nazis did not actually coin it themselves.
Volkswagen was founded by the Nazi Government in 1937. The company used slave labour during the Holocaust to build vehicles for the German military.
Mr Diess' apology acknowledged his company's "special responsibility in connection with the Third Reich".
